Those who don’t want to play traditional winter sports like basketball have a new opportunity in Shell Knob — Esports.

Esports is short for electronic sports, referring to competitive video gaming in tournaments and leagues. Max Schuman, Shell Knob School District No. 78 math teacher, is excited to begin the inaugural season for the Chargers. He feels that if this is something that motivates students and keeps them involved, it is worth it.

According to Southern Illinois University (www.siue. edu/esports/about/history), the history of Esports can be traced back to “1972, when home consoles first became common. In 1980, the first nationwide Space Invaders competition was held with 10,000 participants. A year later, gamers competed in the surprisingly cutthroat, inaugural Donkey Kong tournament.”

So, gaming has been around for quite a while.

Seventh-grader Ryan Crumb said students compete using Nintendo Switch, Xbox and Playstation consoles. Students play an opponent online and keep track of scores. Teams play other schools from across the United States, and students follow the same rules as other sports, such as having good grades and displaying good sportsmanship.

“You cannot ‘rage’ or get upset and cuss and have a fit, because after all, it is just a game,” Crumb said.

Crumb also has high hopes for the Chargers’ first match and feels like they can win if they try their best. He said he enjoys playing video games and is excited to take it to this level of competition.

The games available for play include: Brawlhalla, Chess, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (4v4), Minecraft, Rocket League (2v2 and 3v3), Splatoon 3 and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.

The games cannot be rated R and cannot have guns or characters shooting each other.

To see which individual or team wins, each game has its own set of rules. For instance, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate is the best out of five.

During Shell Knob’s slated time (4 p.m. eastern), players enter into a queue system to play other individuals/teams. For the Winter Warmup season (Jan-Feb), students will join the queue system and get to play as many matches as they can in one hour.

For the Spring Major season (Feb-May), students will join the queue system and play one match (best of five) each week. Based on how well they do, they have an opportunity to qualify for the playoffs the last few weeks of the season.

“Good luck, Chargers,” Schuman said. “We are excited to see how this plays out.”