Jamestown School Board Vice President Joe Pawelski and Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker (May 22, 2024)
eSports are coming to the Jamestown Public Schools District.
The Jamestown School Board approved the creation of an E-Sports team and extracurricular club at a voting session held Wednesday.
The board also approved accepting a donation of a 97-inch television for the eSports Arena from Mercury Networks. The television will be housed at the Innovation Center at Rogers School.
Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said eSports is an exploding sports area. He said it involves students competing by playing electronic games against each other, “Locally, teams are starting to form and leagues are starting to form. In a way, it’s a lot like the Girls Flag Football. That started as a club idea and then morphed into a kind of mini-season and now has turned into a kind of a phenomenon. That’s what we’re hoping to do is first, our own middle schools would play each other, and then as it expands we would get into leagues and meets; and they would play however that is scored within those games and then ultimately maybe a sectional tournament.”
Whitaker said if there is enough interest, there will be a club and sport level engagement where students practice at the middle schools and then compete at the Innovation Center.
The School Board also approved the creation of a Unified Bocce Ball Team. Whitaker said the district has seen tremendous success with the addition of unified teams over the last year when the unified basketball and unified bowling teams were added for students with disabilities.
He said it’s been a really positive experience for the students, “Basketball game.. there’s nine seconds left.. we’re down by two points and normally this is a high stress time. And the coaches are trying to gather the team together to talk about what the last play is going to be and the DJ starts to play ‘Whoomp! There It Is.’ All of a sudden, both teams burst into dance and they can’t be corraled and it’s just a dance for fun. We ended up winning on a three-point miraculous shot, but the best part of that game was the ‘Whoomp! There It Is’ dance.”
Whitaker said the unified team offerings are gratifying for parents who get to see their kids compete and for coaches it’s a way for them to give back in a way that’s special and unique.
He added that the Bocce Ball team will likely initially use established community bocce courts in the city although those details are still being worked out.
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