Carl Albert esports program growing

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

Carl Albert High School’s eSports team is finding success in just its third year.

The Titans placed sixth placed in the state tournament through Oklahoma Scholastic Esports.

“We only lost to Class 6A teams, but we would have been second in 5A based on points,” said Mitchell Gomez, esports teacher.

Carl Albert’s students excelled at Mario Kart. Aaron Parker and Jourdan Houston finished sixth place at state and took home a top 10 finish in every Mario Kart tournament they entered.

Anthony Stevens and Jett Brown had multiple top 10 finishes and qualified for state. And Brayden Wyatt and Skyler Hinton finished in the top 15 at several tournaments and qualified for state.

Carl Albert’s eSports teamed up with the CAHS Unified Club to form Unified Esports. Unified Esports combines special education kids with players who compete in that sport. This year, Unified Esports competed in Rocket League and we won their division and qualified for the state tournament at UCO. Conner Watkins, Zaine Warren, and Riley Moon teamed up for a third place finish.

The Super Smash Bros team was only able to attend one tournament before state, and finished high enough to qualify for the state tournament.

Carl Albert students compete in Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, Rocket League, Fortnite and Overwatch 2. Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros are only available for in-person tournament, while the others are played online.

The esports team has been able to grow with support from local business and grants from the Mid-Del Public Schools Foundation. The funds were used to by more game systems.

Carl Albert offered the class only during the spring semester. Next year, it will be a year-long class. More than 200 students applied to be in the class the past two years.

Several colleges are offering scholarships for esports.

Lenore Smith, a recent graduate, helped get the program started as a ninth grader. She had played in other online leagues and was looking forward to competing at the high school level. They started it as a club and the district later made it a class.

“It’s been slow and agonizing at times, but I’ve been overwhelmed by the growth of the esports department at Carl Albert,” she said. “Four years ago, it wasn’t even something on people’s minds.”

Gomez said they can use the games to teach lessons of teamwork, communication, time management and leadership.

“We’re using video games to teach them these things, and the kids want to be here,” he said. “If you can’t communicate successfully at video games and it’s the same thing in life.”

Smith said esports is an inclusive activity that can be enjoyed by people.

“People with mental and physical disabilities can compete without any restrictions,” she said.

Conner Watkins, a recent graduate, said he enjoyed getting to know other students.

“I like getting to know the people in class who like playing video games and share experiences with each other,” he said. “I’m also a team captain for Fortnite and Rocket League, so being able to try and coach my teammates to try and win feels good.”