Broken Arrow High School's Esports Team Brings Home Tournament Win

Broken Arrow High School is celebrating a tournament win for its esports team.

The recently-formed team took home the win at an invitational tournament at Atoka High School last week.

"Most people just see it as like playing video games, but to us, it's not really that because we're trying to perfect it like it’s our craft. We're trying to be the best team there is," said Sophomore Caleb Buffington.

Their hard work is paying off.

"I looked around left and right, nobody was making any movement, yet I'm the only one up there with my arms up, raised in victory," said Buffington.

They competed against teams from all across the state. They were even being watched by the COO of a professional esports team in Texas called Dallas Fuel.

"The rise of eSports in Oklahoma is catching the attention of the big leagues that are trying to come scout out our boys," said head coach Tyler Utt.

Utt started the esports program at Broken Arrow in 2019. He says it brings many advantages to students, including scholarship money.

"Scholarships are popping up left and right with schools, NSU, Northeastern State University has a $1,000 scholarship, RSU just now dropped I believe a $10,000 scholarship for certain games," Utt said.

Caleb and Jesse are definitely considering doing esports in college. They want people to know it's just as much a sport as anything else.  

The team is hoping for even more success as they head to the state playoffs on April 3rd at Union High School.