With the recent rise in the popularity of esports, the League of Legends club has been promoted into an official sports team at Galileo, with a varsity and a junior-varsity teams.
After taking over the club from Mr. Lynch in September 2023, history teacher Mr. Lin has been working hard to transform the club by contacting and working with Athletic Director Mr. Keough in order to officially register League of Legends with the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) in partnership with the Network of Academic and Scholastic Esports Federations (NASEF) that govern and organize competitions throughout the state.
As a sport, the team has been given the same benefits and privileges as other sports, such as early dismissal before matches and funding for equipment and supplies. Generally, players meet in person at the first floor computer lab for preparations an hour before a match, playing against other schools across California on the gaming platform.
“It’s like playing basketball or football,” said Coach Lin, “it takes a lot of knowledge and skill in order to get good at these games. You need to understand your opponents’ goals and plan strategies around each person’s role.”
Currently in season, the League of Legends varsity team is 3-2, ranking 3rd out of 10 in Group A and 39th in the state, with 4 more expected games in the 9 week season. Their main objectives right now are to make it to the top 64 teams in the state and enter playoffs that are less than a month away.
The transition into becoming a sport wasn’t always smooth according to Coach Lin, saying, “there was a mismatch in expectations with new regular practice and as a sport,” causing some players part of the original club to leave, dropping the number of JV teams down to one. Despite this, the team has pulled through, with a majority of the varsity team being willing newcomers to the esport.
Coach Lin also added that anyone who is willing to commit is welcome to join, even if students aren’t able to join in competition, they can still enjoy some leisurely fun with other peers.
JV player Andrew L. said he doesn’t feel too stressed over the game since he’s able to connect his leisurely fun with an extracurricular activity. He said, “I find it pretty fun and I’m not too pressured all the time.”
