E-sports is on the rise and a pro league has been created so kids of all ages and even adults can compete against each other. This summer, a newly created E-sports tournament finished with a 16-year-old walking away with a $3 million prize. If this is the new arena for competition because children ages 5-14 are more familiar with video games than the school gymnasium, it raises the questions – what is the future of high school sports and will there be enough participants to field a team?
More and more high school students are opting for the computer screen vs. the athletic field and a number of youngsters in athletics are choosing to go from three+ sports down to one. Some are quitting all together. This caused us to look into what could be at the heart of the issue.
We talked to families from several districts around central Ohio who had their children in sports from a young age and asked why they weren’t in high school sports today. Various reasons were mentioned including cost, concussions, time commitment (burnout) and lack of relationship with the coach.
Last week when we reported the OHSAA state football awards, readers may have noticed the smaller divisions only gave out first team awards because there weren’t enough schools competing to expand beyond that level.
Also, Last Saturday we saw the Marysville High School wrestling team, a program that in the past has been three-deep in each weight class, was unable to fill all 14 weight classes during its home tournament. To start the season there were 32 boys and six girls on the team, one of the lowest turnouts in recent memory.
Is this a trend? Shouldn’t traditional sports be the outlet kids need so they keep their minds sharp, their bodies healthy all while fighting childhood obesity? We think sports can be that outlet and here’s why.
A few years ago, I was taken back when a Marysville High School student who had never wrestled before came out for the team because he said he needed physical activity to lose the weight he gained by playing video games. The 16-year-old, out of shape, gamer said he made more than $30,000 as an online player. When asked how he won the money, he explained that he would play characters in a game to a high level and sell their spot in the game on eBay. Not being a gamer, I didn’t believe him at first but other wrestlers confirmed his story.
Because we were looking to include anyone that wanted to participate- we were glad to have him, but he only stuck it out for about half the year. The idea that gamers need physical activity too, is still relevant today. This is so much so that we think sports could be a way to reverse a trend that is developing where youths would rather be at home on a screen rather than be at school working out with friends.
We understand high school sports can bring a certain pressure to perform that turns kids away, but as life imitates sport, we think student athletes are able to face circumstances during the preparation for competition that can help them later in life. It also provides a break from the screen for a while.