A new extracurricular activity is underway and gaining popularity at Greene County High School.

Esports is competitive gaming with various video games that are played on a computer. Kyle Kinne is one of the coaches and is a licensed mental health counselor with the Greene County School District. He says Esports is a growing activity with 36 Iowa high schools, including Greene County, that are a part of the Iowa High School Esports Association.

Kinne tells Raccoon Valley Radio there are currently over 20 students involved and the sport is set up with three seasons, including fall, winter and spring, with two different games for varsity and junior varsity for each season. The games they are playing now are Rainbow 6 Siege for varsity and JV are playing Smash Brothers. 

Kinne points out the varsity can have up to ten students during a competition and the premise of the game is for the five starters from one school trying to find and defuse a bomb that was planted by the opposing team. He says violence was one of the main concerns, but the association has good control of it.

“(It’s) very, very, very hard to find non-violent video games. There’s just levels of it (the violence). So instead of having Grand Theft Auto, we’re not talking necessarily that, we’re talking on this one (Rainbow 6 Siege) there’s no blood, guts. You’re shot and that’s it.”

Kinne talks about the real world skills that Esports brings to the table.

“So here we’re trying to say, ‘Work as a team.’ Teamwork is going to be huge and we’re not going to be successful unless we play as a team, and being new, we’re learning that. So that teamwork, the coping skills, and communication. The speed in which they are running at and being able to communicate with their call outs is a huge skill.”

Kinne says another benefit is following eligibility requirements that the district has in place, along with earning college scholarships for Esports. Greene County’s Esports varsity team has played two schools, including Thomas Jefferson in Council Bluffs and Belmond-Klemme, which were both losses. However, Kinne expects the team to get better. The School Board approved the new extracurricular activity earlier this summer and there are four coaches, including Kinne,  High School Computer Instructor Jeff Whyle, Technology Support Technician Josef Miller and Middle School Band Instructor Bob Palmer.