Central York High school students are finally able to participate in esports Valorant tournaments this year, and the teams will compete up to the Thanksgiving break. There are currently three teams and they will all be competing against other schools for state championships.

The esports club run by Brian Ford and Chris Detwiler, teachers at the High school, and their team has been participating in the PIEA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Esports Association) since 2021. They have participated so far in Smash Bros and recently added Rocket League and Valorant tournaments.

“I think we came up with a system, as far as if it’s working or not I don’t know,” stated Detwiler. “We will see how it works out for the rest of the year. We are learning as it goes still, very fresh, very new.”

There has been a significant change to this year’s tournaments compared to last year’s. New students have decided to participate fully in the after-school club and new supplies have been provided to the teams as well. For the coaches, it has been a whirlwind of organization and after-school planning, and since the season just started there will be more. 

“Last year we only had 16 computers and this year we were able to get a hold of the old CAD computers, the CAD Lab got 25 new computers and Mr. Billet was able to allow us to keep the old computers to keep in this classroom,” Ford states. “So now we have over 30 computers that we have access to and that’s made a big difference for more students to be able to participate.”

Not only has the interest in the after-school club grown but so has the commitment and popularity. Since they started, Coach Ford and Detwiler have continued to help push the E-Sports program, and with the Valorant tournaments, they hope to spread the word around to more of the student body in hopes more students will continue to participate. 

“Originally, over the years, Coach Detwiler and I just wanted to see growth in the program,” Ford says. “Starting off with only having about 6-7 students doing it last year to having over 23 students that are committed to competing after school is a really good step in the right direction.”

For now the E-Sports team for Valorant will continue to compete after school and get the team

s going and ready for play-offs.“As we get closer to the playoffs which will happen after the

 thanksgiving break I know that we’ll start

to play some higher rank teams so it will be a little bit more important for our teams to work morecohesively together” Ford states. “They will have to pull things together and to bring their A games up, but for now, I think that we will just get some practice in and do the best that we can.”

 So far all three teams have been doing well. Team A is (2-2), as well as team B (1-3) and team

C is leading with a record of (4-0), for now.