McKinley esports program excited about OHSAA involvement in state tournament
It was a moment that may change the course of high school esports in Ohio. The Ohio High School Athletic Association recently announced that it will co-sponsor a state tournament this May at the University of Akron with the Esports Ohio organization.
The move made an immediate impact for the McKinley esports team. It had just finalized joining Esports Ohio before receiving the news the Bulldogs would have a chance to possibly compete at an OHSAA-sanctioned state tournament.
"We had no idea that OHSAA was going to be working with Esports Ohio," McKinley head coach Tyler Smith said. "It was actually an organization I had been tracking the last three years. They primarily run the league over Discord. Our only hesitation at first was they are pretty strict about player substitutions and who is eligible to play in matches. Those sort of things can be hard when you are a club sport. We finally felt like we had a couple of teams dedicated enough to meet those requirements and requested to be added to the league."
The growing Bulldogs couldn't be happier with the timing.
"It only reinforced that we were making the correct decision to join," Smith said. "This is going to be a huge opportunity for the kids and they are really excited about it. It opens a lot of doors for the kids and allows them to get the same trophies that kids in other sports get and receive some recognition from the state. It helps the program. It's something tangible we can take to the administration."
The McKinley team is hoping to get official jerseys soon. It is part of some adjustments the program is making to compete in Esports Ohio events.
"We're going to change our schedule a bit," Smith said. "We're going to compete in two games. Rocket League and Valorant. I was encouraged by how highly the kids placed nationally in those two games and I think they have a legitimate chance to reach the state tournament in those two games. The competition days are actually opposite the days that we compete in our national league so it makes things more complicated. There will be less room for subs and for free play days."
The Bulldogs definitely have the credentials in both games to be in the mix for the state tournament. McKinley was ranked between 20 and 30 throughout the last season competing nationally in the midwest region.
"It would be big if we could find a way to qualify for the first state tournament with OHSAA involvement," Smith said. "I think it would be great for the kids to get a chance to meet who they are competing against in person. I think it would also bring a lot of notoriety to the program and esports in general. I'd love to see esports become fully sanctioned by the OHSAA one day because it opens up more resources for the programs."
Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @chickmanREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: McKinley esports aims to be in first OHSAA sponsored esports tourney
