EBENSBURG — From their beginnings four years ago to pushing out competitive teams in multiple games offered by the High School Esports League (HSEL) during the current spring 2022 season, the Central Cambria Inferno has grown into one of the region’s brightest esports squads.
The Inferno, under the guidance of esports coach Lisa Urbassik, boast teams in “Overwatch,” “Valorant,” “Rocket League,” “Minecraft,” “Rainbow Six Siege,” “Hearthstone” and “NBA 2K22,” along with chess.
Even with Central Cambria holding national rankings within the federation in “Overwatch” (30th out of 255 teams), “Minecraft” (13th out of 181), “Hearthstone (10th out of 139) and “NBA 2K22” (13th out of 87), Urbassik understands that the teams playing their respective games are still coming into their own, especially with new titles offered for competition that the squad took on after the program joined the HSEL.
“It’s a bit like traditional sports,” Urbassik said. “Probably the team that is the most in line with one another is the ‘Overwatch’ team, because they’ve built themselves over three years.
“They’ve had a couple of people go out, a couple of people go in, but they’ve absorbed some players and graduate other players. They’ve had three years to work things out. ‘Valorant,’ ‘Rainbow Six,’ ‘Hearthstone’ and ‘Rocket League,’ they haven’t had that time to jell yet. I think I’m just starting to see that now.”
While Central Cambria is halfway through its season, Urbassik projects that four Inferno teams – “Hearthstone,” “Minecraft,” “Valorant” and “Overwatch” – should reach the postseason.
The Inferno, which competed in The Esport Company League this past year, claimed the “Overwatch” crown from the local league during the spring 2021 season.
As the numbers within the squad have grown, a challenge emerged in linking students to games.
“We did play in the The Esport Company (TEC) League last year, and we had the ‘Overwatch’ championship team for spring 2021,” Urbassik said. “We switched over to a national league, because as much as we loved TEC, the national league offered us more games.
On Central Cambria’s “Overwatch” team are Grace Wolf, Jack Corcoran, Jude Gabrielson, Katrina Svencer, Jamie Johnson, Alex Donaldson, Cameron Emerson and Tyler Sheldon.
The Inferno’s “Valorant” team boasts Emerson, Michael Kuzilla, John Paul Caroff, Jason Westrick, Addison Clark, Hayden Cooper and Shay Adams.
On the “Minecraft” squad are Westrick and Jesse James.
Colin Hagens, Scott Russell, Ethan Stock, Adams, Andrew Mulligan, Robert Lazer, Anna Stock and Sheldon play “Rocket League.”
The “Rainbow Six Siege” group includes Adams, Noah Michael, Isaiah Streets, Clark, Emerson, Kuzilla and Gabrielson.
Lazer and Mulligan team up for “Hearthstone,” while Adams is the Inferno representative on chess, and Sheldon holds down “NBA 2K22.”
Those opportunities to compete in esports have shown other benefits for students, including scholarships to continue playing collegiately. The industry’s trend toward mainstream reception is something that astonishes Urbassik, who noted that she’s a bit of a gamer herself.
Like traditional athletics, esports afford students lessons that aren’t easily taught in classrooms.
“Things that they’re learning from this is communication, team play and the way that you handle things,” Urbassik said.
“Honestly, they can learn skills as individuals on their own time. It’s that team play that really is my job. It’s to get them to organize. It’s to get them coordinated.
Having a dedicated esports arena also helps to ensure that everyone can log the necessary time to improve at their respective games.
“In the arena, itself, probably 6-8 hours per week per game,” Urbassik said when asked about the average practice time per player. “Some kids play multiple games, so they tend to overlap on their practice time in here. Some kids play at home, as well, and that’s completely OK. They’re just more comfortable with their setup at home.
Just like the traditional athletic ventures offered at Central Cambria, the Inferno adheres to PIAA eligibility standards in academic performance, attendance and behavior per a decision made by the district. The Inferno coach also expects players to behave professionally during practice and competitions.
In her experience, those expectations have been met without much extra hassle.
The standard does allow the chance to respectfully acknowledge their successes.
“Even being joyous, yes, they’re allowed to celebrate, but they can’t be smacking things or anything like that,” Urbassik said. “There can be joyous celebrations, but they learned the appropriate celebrations.”
