AUBURN, Maine — Maine high school sports will open a new chapter Monday afternoon. For the first time ever, there will be in-person esports championships, hosted at Central Maine Community College.
Esports, or competitive video gaming, has been a recognized sport by the Maine Principals' Association for a few years. The recognition came during the pandemic as MPA officials looked at new ways to give more options to students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have 34 schools that are participating, many of those schools have multiple teams that play multiple games," MPA Assistant Executive Director Mike Bisson said. “We have schools that only participate in our organization in esports because this is something, with their small numbers, that they can do.”
Monday's event will feature teams batting for three state titles in three separate video games.
Maine Central Institute will take on Cape Elizabeth in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate championship at 2:00 p.m.
Caribou and Noble will then play in Rocket League at 3:15 p.m. and then Cape Elizabeth and Noble will meet at 4:30 in the League of Legends title match.
“We’ll be in [the CMCC] gymnasium, there’s going to be a crowd, there’s going to be everything," MCI coach and MPA Esports Liason Sean Stackhouse said. "It’s going to be a great first taste of what a live esports championship is like for these kids and to be a small part in that is just awesome.”
Stackhouse is tied into the Rocket League and esports community as he serves as a broadcaster and commentator at national and international events.
Both Stackhouse and Bisson have seen how esports are positively impacting student-athletes around Maine as more kids are getting involved in extracurricular activities.
“The schools see the value in this and want to help it grow and continue to promote it," Bisson added.
“We had more than a few [students] at [Maine Central Institute] that after soccer season ended after football season ended, they are joining our Rocket League team, our [Super Smash Bros.] team.”
The next chapter, but not the last, will be written for this new sport on Monday, and officials are confident the growth of esports will only continue.
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