High schools across the country are beginning to realize the potential of competitive gaming, now that colleges are beginning to recruit student-gamers for scholarships. Wilsonville has become one of those schools to take interest in developing a program. 

To paint the picture of what a properly functioning esports program looks like, we can take a dive into other high school programs that have displayed successful, organized and determined projects that have led their students to go far into competitive gaming. 

Oviedo High School, just Northeast of Orlando, holds the Rocket League state champions from Florida. Their varsity team competes at minimum once per week against other high schools across the state in their respective leagues. Their program is funded by teachers and officers at the school, whose payments go into registering for tournament entry fees, as well as funding for spare equipment. 

One of their star players has been able to reap the benefits of the program. Xander, a senior from Oviedo, has received numerous scholarship offers from colleges such as Keiser University and Bay State College. Most notably Ottawa University, a college on the East of Kansas that looks to have 75% of enrolled students on esports tuition by the fall of 2023, offered Xander the opportunity to attend in the fall of 2022. 

These achievements from student gamers can also become a possibility at Wilsonville, as with the open interest of our Student Resource Officer Mr. Keirsey, with enough interest the program could become a reality.