Union High School Hosts The 1st eSports Playoffs Put On By OSSAA

Hundreds of athletes from around the state competed in the Oklahoma eSports League fall playoffs on Saturday.

It happened at Union High School Freshman Academy.

More than 200 E-sports athletes from all over the state met for the Oklahoma eSports League fall playoffs.

Players competed in games like Madden, Rocket League, Valorant and Super Smash Brothers.

It's the first playoff under the OSSAA since they made the decision to make esports a championship activity in September.

Broken Arrow esports head coach Tyler Utt says when he graduated high school in 2011, he envisioned eSports to get popular, but still finds it surreal to see it with his own eyes.

"It blows me away that this is here," Utt said. "It wasn't here when I was in high school. I wish it was. But I just being a part of it that we can help provide it to the students that come after us."

They might not have known it, but these esports athletes are playing for more than just championships.

Patrick McClung is on a recruiting trip as the eSports head coach at Oklahoma City University.

He says he wants to give these kids a chance to turn some of these kids' passion into a path to higher education.

"This is now becoming a tool that students can use to get a degree in college as well as having a place for them that was never a place before," McClung said. "So, at the high school and even middle school level, these students are finding community and finding competition around the games that they've been playing recreationally."

Utt says these playoffs shows how esports is a real sport that's here to stay.

"It's a little more validation for the students that what they're doing is actually meaningful," Utt said.

Players from 30 Oklahoma schools participated in Saturday's playoffs.