When Gabe Calderon began his freshman year at Ellsworth in the fall of 2019, he immediately campaigned for the inception of a high school esports program. Little did he know it would take nearly four years of effort before his dream became reality.

For the better part of three years, Calderon advocated on behalf of video games and, by extension, the non-traditional competitors who wanted to partake in a team-building sport other than traditional sports such as football, basketball, baseball or hockey.

Esports are competitive multiplayer video games that often feature five players on each team working toward a common goal. Ellsworth’s team, which now has eight varsity players, competes primarily against Wisconsin-based programs but will schedule out-of-state teams too.

The Panthers compete in a video game called Overwatch but have considered expansion to other games too. The Panthers may be flourishing now, but it didn’t begin that way. Calderon, who is the program’s founding father, spoke about how he started the team.

“My freshman year I brought the idea up to Mr. Stoesz (EHS principal) and it took a while for the school board to even recognize it as anything,” Calderon said. “That was a turning point to see if it should be considered a sport or not. It actually wasn’t until last year that it got approved by the superintendent.”

Although Ellsworth’s High School esports team received the green light, the program, then in its infancy stages, lost steam when Stoesz announced his retirement. He had worked with Calderon to get the team approved and when he departed, the program’s development stagnated before it had a chance to get started.

That was until Oran Nehls entered stage left. Nehls, who had been announced as Ellsworth High School’s next principal, quickly developed a rapport with Calderon. Over time, Calderon, then beginning his senior year, worked with Nehls to build a roster and field a competitive team.

“When I brought the idea to Mr. Nehls, I told him that any game we’d play would be a team-building sport with multiple players,” Calderon recalled. “I built the idea that if people worked together and communicated as a team, you could call that sport. When I explained that to him, he completely understood.”

Although Nehls is by no means a gamer, he understands the team concept and that Ellsworth esports provides opportunities for kids who may not have found their crowd in more traditional athletic settings.

“We’re trying to find something for everyone because every kid needs a purpose to come through those doors,” Nehls said. “The cool part about esports is that there is a team objective and they all have a role to play. The best analogy is basketball – everyone has a position and a job to do.”

Ellsworth’s esports team currently brings their Xbox consoles from home and uses them to compete at the school. Once there, they hardwire internet connection and square off with teams from around the state and occasionally the country.

The Panthers specialize in a five-on-five multiplayer game called Overwatch, which features a large roster of playable characters with unique abilities. Teams mix-and-match characters to best fit their playstyle and maximize success potential.

Ellsworth competed against other programs in the combat-based game throughout the spring and finished their inaugural year with a victory in their respective bracket of the Wisconsin State Championships. The Panthers defeated more than half a dozen teams in their portion of the state tournament series.

While Ellsworth freshman Jonathan Dawley loved competing against – and defeating – some of the best teams in the state, he is just happy that he has the chance to compete in an esports program. The sport is growing exponentially, but teams are still few and far between.

“I think the highlight was the fact that something like this was able to come to a small town like Ellsworth,” Dawley said. “I’m really happy that an experience like that is open to so many people now. Just the fact that we had the chance to do it was pretty cool.”

The esports team features eight varsity players including six freshmen, one junior and one senior. Ellsworth has considered adding more games than just Overwatch to its rotation. An expansion would generate additional opportunities for kids to compete in games such as Rocket League, League of Legends, Fortnite and many others.

“This year we just played Overwatch,” Dawley said. “After talking about it with the team, next year we plan on expanding to Fortnite as well. I know four freshmen who would join just because of Fortnite. You have to think about the demographic as well. We’d have more support.”

As Ellsworth’s program continues to add roster slots and expand its list of competitive games, the Panthers will continue to be at the forefront of what is one of the fastest-growing sports in Wisconsin.