The Shaker Heights High School esports team has snagged multiple state and regional titles with its commitment to mentoring and a professional play mindset.
By Julie Hulliett
At the Esports Ohio state tournament in April, Shaker Heights finished third in Fortnite, second in Reserve Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and first in Club Chess. Since its inception in 2018, the Shaker Heights High School team has won multiple regional and state tournaments. Photos by Gus Chan.
In the early spring of 2019, Shaker Heights High School Latin teacher Nora Murphy received an unusual request. Keith Szalay, German teacher and esports coach, was looking for a place for his students to play competitive video games.
After months of putting a team together, joining the Esports Ohio High School League, and preparing for a match, Szalay and the students discovered that the school’s firewall blocked the game. Scrambling to find a new location for the match (instead of Szalay’s classroom), Szalay pleaded with Murphy to open her nearby home before the team had to forfeit.
“It was the day of our first match. We plugged in our Nintendo Switches, and it was blocked. We had never thought to check,” Szalay recalls. “I ran down the hall and asked Nora if 25 kids could competitively play video games in her living room. To her credit, she said sure.”
This was the official start of the Shaker Heights High School Esports team, and it is a force to be reckoned with. Since its inception in 2018, the team has won multiple regional and state tournaments. Just this season, Shaker Esports came in second in the region and third in the state for Fortnite, first in the region and seventh in the state for Smash Ultimate, and first place in the state for Chess. At the Esports Ohio state tournament this past April, Shaker Heights came in third place for Fortnite, second place for Reserve Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and first place for Club Chess.
The esports team currently boasts 68 players spread among varsity, junior varsity, and club teams. Shaker’s teams play Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Overwatch Fortnite, Valorant, Rocket League, Apex Legends, and Club Chess.
Head Coach Keith Szalay and Assistant Coach Aric Kee say running the esports team is a passion project. Szalay, a German teacher, and Kee, a paraprofessional, manage the team on top of their own full-time jobs. “They look at us as people they can relate to and rely on,” Kee says. “As a coach, you give a lot of yourself to the kids.”
Young, Scrappy, and Hungry It was only a matter of time before the esports team was born. On Mondays, Szalay starts his German classes with a conversation about what the class did over the weekend. The conversation starts in English but turns to German as the students learn the language. He hears about their weekend festivities, and the students learn about Szalay. “They knew I was a lifelong gamer,” he says.
In the spring of 2018, three students came to Szalay with the request to start a digital gaming club. Students brought their Nintendo Switches to his classroom and connected them to the projector, and some brought their laptops for PC gaming. A thriving community was born, Szalay says.
That same year, a group of educators founded Esports Ohio, the first Ohio esports league for high schools. There was clearly talent in that overflowing classroom, so Shaker joined Esports Ohio, which quickly became one of the best high school esports leagues in the country. Esports Ohio partners with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), and Shaker’s esports team is a member of OHSAA.
Once these students decided that they wanted an esports team, there was no turning back. Mike Karenke, Shaker High School’s Network and System Security Administrator, faces the herculean task of keeping the technology up and running for the esports team. He helps the team access games that may be blocked by the District’s firewall. When the team first started playing competitively in the spring of 2018, the games were not yet accessible from the high school.
“That entire season was played out of students’ living rooms. Parents volunteered to host us,” Szalay says. “The kids ran to the computer lab at 3pm and grabbed four monitors and Nintendo Switches and we would run across Shaker on foot to whoever was hosting us. You have a 4pm deadline or you forfeit. As a coach, you see the enthusiasm the kids have and the lengths they are willing to go to to compete as a team. You recognize the power of what we have here.”
The Love of the GameThere are two aspects of the Shaker Esports team. The first one is a sense of community. Students with common interests found a gathering place to escape their daily stressors and indulge in a feel-good activity with friends. “We are a community for kids who need community,” Szalay says. “That is the foundation of our team.”
Players on the SHHS Esports team learn the same skills of leadership, perseverance, discipline, sportsmanship, communication, and confidence that players would learn on a traditional athletic team.
Heaven Clark, a sophomore and team captain for the junior varsity Valorant team, says she heard about the esports team when she was in middle school. Clark was excited to start high school so she could join the team. She made many new friends on the esports team but is still looking to recruit more women.
The second aspect of Shaker Esports is learning how to be a professional player on a team. Players on this team learn the same skills of leadership, perseverance, discipline, sportsmanship, communication, and confidence that players would learn on an athletic team.
“The students are learning how to go to the next level cognitively,” Szalay says. “They study the characters, research their matchups, watch the best players in the world, and come in with a strategy. If you play a game a lot, you will get good, but you will never be great unless you have the right mindset.”
Ariel Yaniv, a senior and varsity captain of Super Smash Bros Ultimate, says his role brings many new skills that will be applicable for the rest of his life, including communication, leadership, and managing a team. “This has been a great experience in building connections and developing teamwork skills,” he says.
Trent Kafcsak, a junior and captain of the Esports Chess Team, has developed skills in fundraising while on the team. He helped coordinate a fundraiser with Cilantro Taqueria at the Van Aken District to support esports. The team raised $300 in one day through this partnership when the restaurant donated a portion of the profit from each order to the esports team.
Racking Up the Awards
Shaker’s Esports teams have earned numerous awards, including seven ESO/OHSAA State Championship titles, three State runner-up titles, the Ohio/Michigan battle of the border, and multiple regional victories.
“We had enough support from family, friends, and teachers to buy a third Nintendo Switch,” Kafcsak says. “So we can have three teams for Super Smash Bros instead of two.”
Coach Szalay and Assistant Coach Aric Kee describe running the esports team as a passion project. As a full-time German teacher and a paraprofessional, respectively, Szalay and Kee manage the esports team on top of their own full-time jobs.
As coaches, Szalay says they help the students become better players. However, the coaches also go above and beyond because they want to see the students grow and develop into the best versions of themselves.
Kee, also a lifelong gamer, joined as the assistant coach two years ago. He expected to play a role in strategy, but quickly found himself in a whirlwind. “You build a relationship with the kids. You’re a part of their life now,” Kee says. “They look at us as people they can relate to and rely on. As a coach, you give a lot of yourself to the kids.”
For example, Kee stays in the esports room until nearly 6pm every day so the students can practice. Some have the technology and games at home to play on their own, but not all. He chooses to give them as much time as they need to better themselves. “The competitiveness is good, the strategy is good, but building young men and women is great,” Kee says.
Mentoring the Next Generation The coaches put in countless hours of time and effort to support the team, but the real key to success is the culture of mentoring.
The SHHS Esports team has experienced significant growth within a short period of time. A club that began with three gamers now boasts nearly 70 team members.
Many alumni of the Shaker Esports team went on to play for their college esports teams, with some even earning scholarships. One wall in the esports classroom displays names of alumni who have played on college teams. Many of those players return to mentor the current team members and share their tips and tricks.
“With Overwatch this season, we had newer players on the varsity team. Alumni players did video on demand (VOD) reviews with them. It’s like watching tape in football. The alumni would get online from their college and go over it with them,” Szalay says.
In addition to the support from the coaches, parents, administration, IT department, and community members, Szalay says the esports team could not be without the Shaker Schools Foundation. The foundation bought the team’s first pieces of equipment – two Nintendo Switches – and have continued to support the team over the last six years.
The esports team has experienced significant growth in a short period of time. A club of three gamers turned into nearly 70 gamers on a team with several state titles. Szalay and Kee describe the esports team as a machine, but they love every minute of it. The preparation, tournaments and mentoring are nearly nonstop throughout the school year.
“By the end of the year, we just drink Gatorade and chill out for the summer.”
Scholarship Eligible
SHHS is known for its esports team, which is what draws college scouts to visit the team. Coach Keith Szalay says multiple college coaches have come to the high school to watch the students play and identify potential recruits for their university teams.
Several students have received scholarships for a few thousand dollars per semester to play on the university team. An esports scholarship often has the same perks as an athletic scholarship, such as priority registration, access to a tutor, and 24/7 access to their own PC in the esports room. Scholarships have come directly from a scout and in other cases students reached out to an esports team after committing to a college. Coach Szalay and Assistant Coach Aric Kee know several college coaches and help make connections for their students.
