As technology advances further in the 21st century, sport entertainment is progressing further and further from typical sports fields and onto screens. Now, competitive sports themselves are moving away from the field as well.

Esports are organized competitive video gaming. Out of all of the extracurricular school activities, esports spark debate as to what it should be considered as, especially with the various stigmas and idle assumptions around it. 

“It’s not just moving thumbs, which is what people say,” junior Mario Kart Captain Katarina Schnell said. “You have to actually use your brain and think.”

This sparks the question: what is a sport, and what separates the traditional ones from other activities?

“I think a sport is something competitive in nature,” freshman baseball player Reece Brattin said. “It could be a game or a hobby, as long as it’s competitive. I believe that sports should take some skill, or else it wouldn’t be competitive in the first place.”

The sense of competitiveness is highly sought after when students participate in these activities, as well as the sense of accomplishment with working with a team.

“I think that being in the school community and having that sports experience, which cross country has, esports has, swimming has, football has, is absolutely crucial and a great opportunity for them to put it on their chest,” Cross Country Assistant Coach Craig Clark said. “So for all those similarity reasons, esports definitely should be considered a sport.”

However, following those criteria, activities like chess and marching band would be categorized as a sport. According to CHSAA, marching band and chess – as well as other activities like speech and debate – are categorized as competitive activities alongside esports.

“I would say that there are a lot of aspects of being a sport that esport does incorporate,” Creek esports Head Coach Alexandra Bak said. “Anybody on a soccer team or football team has to be good at communication and teamwork and strategy, knowing what to do and when to do it, and that’s the exact same skill set that gamers have.”

CHSAA made esports an officially sanctioned competitive activity. But unlike other competitive activities, esports receives the same recognition as regular sports. For winning state championships, the esports team receives the same trophy and banner as the football team.

“I’m pretty happy with where esports is in terms of being a competitive activity,” Bak said. “I think that the competitive activity classification is the right place for us because while we do have a lot of aspects as regular team sports, playing video games is obviously a lot less physical than real sports.”

Despite the differences between the esports team and regular sport teams, Schnell believes that esports shouldn’t be seen differently or looked down upon. 

“Esports should not be considered a sport but should still be treated seriously like a sport or marching band,” Schnell said. “You’re still working together and we’re all people. Everyone is human and every club should be treated the same.”