eSports

eSports Program Overview

The 2019-20 academic year was Poly’s inaugural eSports team year. Poly participated in the High School eSports League (HSEL) and has since added the Vanta High School eSports League for students and teams to compete in more games. Both leagues offer opportunities for our students to compete with other high schools across the country; showcasing their competitive skills in their respective games, and building a social community with other gamers. By participating in eSports, students hone critical thinking skills and the ability to adapt to different scenarios by quickly finding solutions to challenges they encounter, as well as demonstrating resiliency and focus. Poly’s eSports teams and gaming strategies are headed by technology faculty member and Network and Systems Manager Pasquale Cioffi.

The set of games supported by the leagues each year varies. Poly’s teams for these popular competitive game series have included Rocket League, Fortnite, Overwatch, Counter-Strike, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and MK1. 

eSports Leagues

Each eSports league has a mission to elevate the gameplay experience for students.

HSEL’s mission: “to make eSports available to every student as a legitimate varsity level sport in high schools across the nation. We achieve this by making it easy for faculty to offer students an opportunity to engage in healthy eSports competition surrounded by peers, and supervised by teachers. Through organized eSports competition, students will tie their commitment to gaming to their success in academics and future careers.”

Vanta’s mission:  “We believe in gamers of character. Being a part of a team, learning how to win and lose well, how to stand in our power and show up for each other. That’s what traditional sports brings to the table and we integrate those principles into our esports curriculum, platform and leagues to help kids from 8-18 grow into the best version of themselves. With Vanta they become inspiring athletes and model citizens who can positively impact the gaming world and become future leaders.”

Competitions 2023-24

The eSports teams competed in the following games for the 2023-24 school year: MS Rocket League, MS Super Smash Bros, MS Mario Kart, US Chess, and US MK1.

Highlights 

• Reyhan Sanchez ’24 placed furthest in the eSports Chess team this past year, reaching the playoffs in HSEL. He has consistently done so during his time in the program, setting a record in Poly’s eSports program as the student with the most number of playoff placements ever.
• Loch Baird ’26 placed 2nd in the Spring 2024 Vanta league MK1 tournament. It was a first for Poly Prep eSports to compete in this game and a first time high placement in this league.

Featured Gamers

Loch Baird ’26 has demonstrated an eager competitive spirit, discipline, and technical prowess this past eSports spring 2024 season. Placing 2nd in the regional east coast Vanta league tournament in the game MK1; I believe he’ll place even further ahead in his subsequent tournament brackets during his tenure in Poly’s eSports program. – Coach Cioffi

Middle School student Alexander B. ’31 showcases a lot of qualities for a future prospective eSports student during his time in Poly PM keyboard gaming. He consistently shows up early, learns the meticulous but necessary details in the games he’s competing in, and extrapolates weaknesses from his opponents through his experiences in previous games while leveraging the current game’s mechanics in his favor. If he ever decides to, I would look forward to welcoming him to our eSports program in the future. – Coach Cioffi

Throughout his tenure at Poly, Reyhan Sanchez ’24 demonstrated leadership qualities inside and outside of the matches he competed in. He demonstrated consistency and discipline during tournaments, communicated clearly with teammates, and always carried a calm level-headed demeanor. Win or lose, he was always respectful of his opponent. I can see Reyhan translating these skills very well throughout the next chapter in his life and beyond. – Coach Cioffi

eSports Coach

Pasquale Cioffi joined the Poly Prep faculty in 2010 after earning a BS in Computer Science that year. A fan of the early 2000s competitive fighting game scene, Pasquale and his younger brother purchased their first video game system together, the Nintendo Gamecube, and the Super Smash Bros. Melee video game for that system. Unknowingly purchasing a “fun multiplayer party game,” he came to realize that the game is quite competitive and technical, an idea which was further exemplified by observing professional gamers of this series playing at grand final tournaments.

When presented with the opportunity to coach Poly students who were interested in the game’s latest iteration, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, for Poly’s eSports team, Pasquale’s answer was clear: yes. In his coaching debut, Pasquale considered what a tournament player would do to practice; and developed a coaching strategy that was personalized for each player’s character and gameplay style. It also included foundational understanding of the game itself along with respectable character of what’s expected on a tournament stage for competing in eSports.

As an eSport coach, Pasquale created a structured practice etiquette that included logging results, understanding and analyzing player strengths and weaknesses, facilitating competitive gaming habits outside of weekly team meetings, making sure students prioritize their schoolwork and their social lives over gaming duties, and that they practice good sportsmanship and foster new friendships along the way.

In reflecting on the inaugural season, Pasquale said, “This is something everyone in the educational field strives for and hopes for their students to be able to eventually learn to develop on their own—being self-aware in an objective light, planning out the necessary changes wherever needed, committing to doing the work to further their true potential throughout their lifetime; while still being able to showcase their strengths and talents in a humble manner. Developing a roadmap of how to better prepare for different match scenarios, and seeing the students’ talents and skills progress from where they started until the end of the season, was a truly novel and rewarding experience. I hope this thought process can help them in some way, no matter how small; to translate into other aspects of their life throughout their time at Poly and beyond.”