eSports

History

The Bishop O’Dowd eSports program began in fall of 2019 and was one of the founding programs of the CIF eSports initiative. In that initial season, the program had great success as our Rocket League team came in 2nd in the state of California. eSports is continuing to grow rapidly around the world, and in the U.S., it is growing especially rapidly at the high school and collegiate levels.

As part of the CIF eSports initiative, and due to the remote nature of the sport, we play any school that has an eSports program in the state of California. In addition, we have scrimmaged other schools for practice from other states across the U.S. and Canada. Currently the games approved in the CIF Sports initiative are Rocket League, League of Legends, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Madden, FIFA, Smite, and Splatoon 2. Unlike traditional sports we have 2 seasons – 1 in the fall and 1 in the spring. All of our Varsity League of Legends, Rockets League, and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate games are streamed at https://www.twitch.tv/odowdesports on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays while in season for the O’Dowd community to watch.

Program Information

Program Expectations

For any student-athlete you are a person first, a student second, and an athlete third. In eSports this is no different. As a member of this team you are committed to show up to every practice and game. However, academics and family will always come before athletics.

As part of this team you are a representative of Bishop O’Dowd High School and will be responsible for your actions at all times.

Teams

For those not familiar with eSports the roster sizes and positions are as follows:

League of Legends (5): 1 Top Laner, 1 Jungler, 1 Middle Laner, 1 Bottom Laner, and 1 Support

Rocket League (3): 1 Attack, 1 Midfielder, 1 Defense/Goalkeeper

Smite (5): 1 Solo Laner, 1 Jungler, 1 Middle Laner, 1 Bottom Laner, 1 Support

Super Smash Bros Ultimate (3)

Madden (1)

FIFA (1)

Splatoon (4)

We must fill all positions entirely to have a team, if there is any overflow people will be subs for the JV teams and will be rotated in. A core value of eSports is that this is a sport for everyone and everyone should get a chance to play. Each game can have only 1 Varsity team, and unlimited JV teams.

Seasons

We have 2 seasons: 1 in the Fall and 1 in the Spring. We will have an information meeting prior to each season in person, followed by tryouts for each game to determine placement prior to the season. Both JV and Varsity teams will have playoffs once the season has concluded. Varsity playoffs will be CIF state playoffs. JV playoffs are just through our league, PlayVS. No previous experience is required but it is recommended that participants have some knowledge of the game.