For the first time in Fresno Christian history, 27 students converge after school to verse other high schools in competitive video games, also known as Esports. They are separated into nine teams that play in League of Legends, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros or Fortnite.

A 2012 campus alumnus, drama instructor, and assistant band director David Casuga leads the teams. After being involved in the “Newsies” musical last year, Casuga felt like he had made enough impact on students to create and Esports team.

“Ultimately this is why I wanted to start an Esports club,” Casuga said. “To bring the activity from out of the bedroom and into the open. To connect with one another and celebrate our common interest.”

Casuga played video games starting at an early age and previously head coached an Esports club at Liberty High School.

“I want to develop a program where colleges, or even professional gaming organizations,” Casuga continued, “that will covet our players and our talent that we develop. I want to set my kids up so even if they didn’t play varsity football all four years of high school they can still get a scholarship and ease the financial burden of going to college.”

The number of American colleges with Esports programs had grown from zero to around 125 in the past seven years, according to ESPN. Apart from possibly earning scholarships, club members can gain life skills like teamwork, strategy, and being able to stay calm under pressure.

“Keeping a calm head and a cool hand,” Casuga said, “being able to react positively to a negative situation, being able to rally yourself and your team after a devastating loss is going to get you a lot farther every time. There are so many things that happen that are beyond our control, but the one thing we can always control is how we react to a given situation.”

Freshman Christopher Mericle began playing video games on the Wii when he was six years old. Now, he plays Fortnite in the Esports club.

“I thought the Esports club was a pretty cool event,” Mericle said, “that these different players from different games could come together and be under one unified team. I play trios with my friends and we’re close. But by being on the team, it just gives me a sense of friendship and more trust because I can depend on them.”

Senior Cohl Obwald also began playing video games on the Wii as a child. He joined the League of Legends team, which is a five versus five game.

“There’s a lot of strategy involved,” Obwald said, “because there’s five different positions in the game, one for each person on the team. And you have to coordinate with each other to do different plays and to get objectives and you have to play the map as it comes up.”

For more articles, read Sadies 2021 announced March 18 and March 13, 2020: The year since Fresno Christian stood silent.