In recent times, esports has risen in popularity among many young students at Jones, becoming a widely growing after-school club and aclab social hub.

“Esports is electronic sports, which is video games and anything that has to do with that,” said Ivan Hernandez ‘24, the Jones Esports Publicity Officer. 

Similar to any other physical sport, esports is an activity that calls for attention and specialization.

“Similar to other sports such as basketball and soccer, we have [competitions] in games like Overwatch, Fortnight, and Ballerup,” said Hernandez. “We compete just like sports, just on video games.”

Students get the opportunity to compete in different tournaments while getting experience with other games.

“There are high school tournaments with multiple different leagues that run through the state of Illinois, with many different games played,” said math teacher and Jones Esports General Manager Kyle Eck. 

Hosted in the digital media room, the Jones Esports team meets frequently to hold matches and hone their skills before upcoming tournaments.

“You can often find us in the digital room on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m. where we play matches and hold meetings as well as just playing together and getting better together,” said Hernandez.

With lots of student engagement, the Esports Club at Jones is seeing a growing trend in membership.

“Everything is on track for the club to grow like every other club wants to do,” said Hernandez. 

Skilled members of the Esports Club have the knowledge to help any newcomers interested in joining the club.

“You have to find a game that you’re interested in, and it helps to have people that you know in the club that could show you the ropes,” said Eck.

While many believe esports is solely for entertainment, it is also beneficial in improving players’ attention spans and providing stress relief.

“It is a good stress reliever but it also increases your focus towards stuff and commitment towards things,” said Pierce Thiberg ‘26.

Esports provides more than just screen time; it also gives social-emotional support to students to build on each other and socialize. 

“It allows students the opportunities to lead, to talk to each other, and make friends,” said Eck. “And it provides it to different groups of students that might not be engaged by something like a basketball team.”

When home consoles first became common amongst a lot of people, schools like Jones used it as a strong social component to help students engage in a fun and socially skilled way.

“I think as long as you put into the work, it pretty easy to get involved,” said Thiberg.