Shaun Carver, 17, was the president of the Ames High School gaming club. He saw the wide range of gender, race, and the varying levels interest that the club had, so he began to wonder if there was something more that this club could be. Upon meeting Patrick Donovan, the school’s Instructional Coach, the club became much more-- it became a team.
In the winter of 2022, the Ames High Esports team was beginning its first season as part of the Iowa High School Esports Association (IAHSEA). With only about three or four meetings during the week for less than two hours a day, the team was starting to take shape. The newly founded Esports team mostly set out to be a more competitive revamp to the school’s previous gaming club, and everyone was welcome to attend practices, even if they weren’t part of the “starting squad" of players, who would play against other nearby schools for a chance to appear at the State championship in a few months time.
Since the team’s founding, they have so far been to the State championship in three of their four active seasons. With only being active for one year, the Esports team has made more appearances in state competition than the football team has in the last eight years-- a feat that the players of the Spring, Fall and Winter teams are very proud of.
Now that the Spring season has arrived at Ames High for the second season, they hope to make their first Spring State Finals appearance, with a new game title being added to the player’s list: Valorant. Four players (Shaun, Josh, Cohen, and Jacob) are part of the starting squad for the team, and have high hopes for the season ahead.