In 2020, former athletic director Ms. DiCarlo sent an email to faculty asking for an advisor for the brand-new E-Sports team. It was a no-brainer for WHS business teacher Mr. Pottorff, a lifelong sports coach and videogame player.
The Rangers E-Sports team is now in its third year of competition and continues to grow. The team competes against Massachusetts and East Coast schools in three games: Mario Kart, Rocket League, and League of Legends. Pottorff shares that the team competes in games “the athletes want to play.”
Right now, the team is 3rd in Rocket League in the state and heads to the playoffs on December 5th. They are currently ranked 31st in the Atlantic region in League of Legends and 37th in Mario Kart.
Pottorff says E-Sports is just “like any other sport.” The team practices 2-3 times and plays at least one game weekly. Their practices occur in the school library and include hand-eye coordination drills as well as game-specific ones.
These practices are light-hearted and “filled with laughs,” sometimes, even Pottorff joins in, especially during their Mario Kart races.
His favorite part of coaching the team is “seeing the kids have fun and be competitive.”
The team right now consists of 6 players. For each game, there is a first-team and bench players like other sports. In League of Legends, they have a starting five and then rotate the last player into the lineup. In Rocket League, there is a starting three, and the rest are substitutes. In Mario Kart, the entire team competes individually.
While the team is small right now, “it is a great group of kids” and is continuing to expand. Pottorff encourages anyone with a competitive edge and a love for videogames to sign up.
At WHS, E-Sports is a fall and spring sport, and sign-ups are on Family ID, similar to any other sport at the high school.
