ESPORTS Team Competes In Championship

Photo courtesy of Ms. Moreno.

CHAH has an esports team, did you know?

The esports team recently came close to reaching the finals of a championship in New Jersey. Learn about their history and how they prepared to go so far, being one of only two teams in New York City to compete.

The creation of the esports team dates back to 2018, when a Super Smash Bros. game was released. Some 12th-grade students were sitting and talking with Mr. Hussein and Ms. Moreno, talking about their childhood games when they were little. Then, with a Nintendo Switch, they started playing Super Smash Bros. Some time later, Moreno started bringing a PlayStation to continue playing and competing against each other.

2020 arrived, and with it the COVID-19 pandemic. At the recommendation of a student, he suggested to Moreno that they could play through Discord.

“I said, ‘What is Discord? What does connecting mean?’ They said, ‘Well, there’s no Discord, you can connect, look, we can create a server,’” Moreno said. “I said, ‘What’s that?’ They created a server and showed us everything, and I was lost, really lost, but it helped me in the process of understanding. After that, we started playing via the house.”

The method of staying in touch was where it all began. They started playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Animal Crossing, Rocket League, and other games. Even teachers from the school joined in. “Miss Rivera made a really cool house in Animal Crossing,” Moreno said.

Currently, the CHAH esports team is the second esports team in New York City.

On June 7th, “we’re going to hold a competition in the Bronx, at a university, to show students the opportunity they have for college,” Moreno said. “The goals we have now with the team are to generate more engagement and teach students that there’s more to it than just sitting and playing.”

Students interested in esports simply have the same opportunities as those who play physical sports.

“Students who are involved in esports also have the opportunity to enroll in the SYEP program, the summer job opportunity for SYEP and WG, and I’m the leader,” Moreno said. “What they do is maintain computers, they learn how to create content, use software, use OBS, they know how to use YouTube, Twitch, we have a Twitch channel, we have an Instagram channel, we have all of that.”

Moreno is part of a foundation called ESSEF (Empire State Scholastic Esports Federation).

According to their Facebook page, “ESSEF is an organization founded by educators to foster and support scholastic esports in New York State. Our mission is to use esports to encourage community involvement, academic achievement, and career development.”

The team practices on Mondays after school, as well as on the weekend in the evenings using Discord. They train hard with Ms. Moreno’s wife’s team and her team to become better, outperforming each other and becoming better at playing the game’s various maps.

Ms. Moreno has a Valorant team where, of the game’s 10.8 million players, only a few reach immortality. She has an 8th grade student who reached level 1200 in 6th grade.

Want to join the team? Everyone is welcome to join the team, regardless of gender or language.

Contact Information
Email: [email protected]

Follow them on social media:

Instagram: @Chah_esports
Twitch: @Chah_esports