In a wedge-shaped classroom at Alberton High School in western Montana, five teenage boys are stationed at whirring gaming PCs. Wearing headsets, they’re locked in combat against a team from Hardin High School, clear across the state. Over a storm of clicks and keystrokes, junior Tater Herman rattled off instructions to his teammates.
“David, go ‘B.’ Everyone else, go ‘A.’ Go hold coverage,” Herman ordered. “Your right, Matt, to your right. To your right! Nice, good shots bro.”
They’re playing “Valorant,” a cartoony, team-based combat game. Herman has by far the most experience and the rest of the team isn’t sure how they’ll do. It’s their first matchup of Montana’s high school esports season.
One of Montana’s newest high school sports isn’t playing out in arenas — it’s on the internet. Supporters say competitive video gaming, or esports, offers more students the chance to make friendships, build a team and hone their skills. Herman and his team are hoping to play their way to the top.
Herman grew up playing video games, and plays football and runs track and field for Alberton. While high school athletics have a long and storied history in Montana, Herman said he noticed a lack of team activities for kids who aren’t on the outdoor field.
“There are kids that want to do school activities, but they don’t feel or enjoy the athletics of regular, outdoor sports,” Herman said. “So, I built this as another option for those kids.”
Herman worked with Alberton science and technology teacher McKenna Akane to establish the school’s first esports team last year. They joined a rapidly growing club of high schools across the state, all united by a passion for gaming — and being part of a team.
While all the running and jumping is contained to the virtual world, Akane said esports provide many of the same benefits as playing high school football or basketball.
“There’s a lot of correlation between your traditional sports and esports, whether it’s collaboration, communication, team-building and bonding,” Akane said. “And, that lasts throughout the school year, the summer, and into next year.”
Video games have been around since the 70s, swelled in popularity in arcades and at home in the 80s and 90s, and are now a multi-billion-dollar industry. It wasn’t until streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch gained traction in the late 2000s that esports emerged as a major field of competition.
Now, high schools nationwide are jumping onboard. A National Federation of High School Associations survey last year found nearly half of states offer sanctioned high school esports — but Montana isn’t one of them. The reason? A disagreement over whether violent games should be permitted.
Games involving guns and shooting are among the most popular in the world. Pew Research Center found more than half of gaming teens say they play violent games.
The Montana High School Association in 2024 explored adding esports to its list of activities. But, assistant director Greta Buehler said the organization’s board couldn’t justify violent games in state-sanctioned play. Coaches said that would reduce participation, and block some of their most popular games, like “Valorant.”
“It is a quandary,” Buehler said. “I can see the coaches’ point of view. I can totally see our board.”
Buehler says the board and coaches ultimately decided to leave the club league as it is for now as they continue exploring ways to fold esports into MHSA — an action that would further legitimize competitive video gaming and potentially open up new funding for programs.
“Schools have to be careful and we have to be careful in what we would promote,” Buehler said. “So, who knows? Maybe, down the road.”
For now, Montana’s burgeoning high school esports scene is steered by the University of Montana, which formed its own competitive gaming team in 2019. Three years later, they organized a club league for high schools with 40 players participating statewide. That number has more than tripled since.
UM esports director Michael Cassens said he understands the concerns MHSA and others have about violence in games, and why some may be “disenchanted” with esports.
“People that don’t play games, they have a narrative that tries to make it, like, ‘Well, that must be why things are the way they are,’” Cassens said. “But, it’s about these kids. It’s about the way they’re interacting with each other.”
Stanford researchers in 2023 combed through dozens of studies into whether violent video games motivate real-life acts of violence and could find no causal link.
Back at Alberton High School, esports team leader Tater Herman said the violence isn’t the point.
“It allows us to play a game competitively, with teamwork and communication, boosting those skills,” Herman said. “Yes, it is a violence-based game. But, a lot of games are.”
Alberton’s “Valorant” team won their first matchup 13-5. Herman said it’s a great start — but, they’ve got a long road to go before the season concludes at the spring tournament in April.
