GMCS esports teams make their mark at state
By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
Long gone are the days of gaming simply being a hobby enjoyed by teenagers in the comfort of their own homes.
Nowadays, more and more colleges are offering esports scholarships, and high schools are picking it up as a recognized sport.
The New Mexico Athletics Association recognized esports as a competitive activity in 2019. Now, two Gallup-McKinley County Schools programs are starting to develop and improve their own teams.
MIYAMURA HIGH INKS THEIR SPOT IN HISTORY
Miyamura High School placed second in the 4A Splatoon Final at the Esports Championship, which took place April 10-12 in Albuquerque. They ended up losing the championship match to Los Alamos.
Splatoon is a third-person shooter game created by Nintendo where squid-like inklings compete in four-on-four matches to cover the most ground with their team’s ink. The goal is to paint the arena, not rack up kills.
Miyamura’s Splatoon team had five players on it this year. Senior Jacob Morgan was the team’s captain. In an interview with the Sun, he reflected on how he felt during the championship game.
“We got there, [and] I got really nervous, but when we got on stage I was happy to be there, I was like ‘OK, I can do this,’” he said.
Both Morgan and two other Splatoon players said their favorite part about playing and competing in esports is making new friends.
“My favorite part is the people who are in it,” Senior Logan Calabaza said. “They’re pretty cool.”
Dorothy Mercado has been the Miyamura esports team coach for two years now. She has ample experience with video games; she coached at a high school in Colorado for two years before taking a brief break when she moved to Nevada, where high school esports weren’t available at the time.
She explained that esports are just as challenging as any other high school sport.
“It’s just as intense as any other sport,” she said. “The students who went to Albuquerque got to experience that intense feeling.”
Students at Miyamura can play many other games besides Splatoon. The team also competes in Rocket League, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros. and League of Legends. This year the team had a total of 30 players. All the teams made it to the quarter finals this year, but only the Splatoon team made it to Albuquerque.
RAMAH HIGH BUILDS ITS TEAM
Jacob Morris knew almost nothing about esports, but the idea of it piqued his interest one day during a conversation with Ramah High Principal Dave Gibbons. The two men were looking at a list of activities students can participate in and Morris happened to see esports.
“I was like ‘What is that? We’ve got to make this happen?” Morris said. “If we’d had esports when I was in high school, I would have totally wanted to be a part of it.”
Now, Morris is in his second year as the school’s esports coach.
Last year, Ramah’s esports competed in Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and Hearthstone. This year, Morris said no one showed interest in Hearthstone, but the NMAA did approve Street Fighter for competition, so they added that along with a Madden team.
“I’m a big gamer myself, so I get invested with the kids,” Morris said. “I’m just as excited for their wins as they are.”
He said his best game is Hearthstone, so he was delighted when the team made it to the state championship last year. They ended up getting fourth place, and they only lost one match the entire season.
ESPORTS AS A BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY
According to Statista, the revenue of the esports industry in the U.S. increased more than fourfold between 2019 and 2022, and is forecast to exceed $1.5 billion in 2028. The U.S. had the highest number of esports players in 2024, with more than 3,400 players nationwide. China and Brazil trail behind on that list, with almost 1,600 and and 1,400 respectively.
