When senior David Myers stepped up at morning meeting, Oct. 9, to announce the League of Legends club he and junior Ryan Hoddick were starting, he was terrified. He wasn’t sure how a club for a video game would go over.
“I saw all these eyes staring at me (while making the announcement). I was shaking a little bit in my legs,” he said.
However, he quickly realized there was no need to be nervous.
“I saw a lot of people—grins on their faces, nodding their heads,” Myers said.
Hoddick, on the other hand, wasn’t worried. He said he knew that there were many League of Legends players at the school, and he hoped the “avid” players would join.
The idea first came up when Hoddick talked to a friend from Rio Americano High School. Hoddick suggested that if he and his friend could both get groups together at their schools, the groups could play against each other.
So Hoddick asked Myers if he was interested in starting a club.
Any fears Myers had when announcing vanished after the first meeting held in teacher Jane Batarseh’s room on Oct. 15.
It attracted 18 members from the sophomore, junior and senior classes.
But of those 18, there is only one girl: junior Erin Reddy.
Reddy said she gets along well with the other boys, though “they jokingly tease me.”
From the most advanced players to those students who are completely new to playing, everyone is welcome at the weekly meetings.
“A halfway decent computer and an Internet connection is all you need,” Myers said. “We are very much into teaching new people. We want to help other people improve.”
Now Hoddick and Myers are organizing their roster.
The club is divided into three teams of six based on skill level.
“We find that League of Legends at its core splits itself up by skill,” Myers said. “It will pair you with people that are at your skill level. The simplest solution is to fit people that are at the same level with each other.”
But Myers said that the teams aren’t permanent. He just wants to make sure that advanced players aren’t frustrated by newer ones and that newer players aren’t dominated by those more experienced.
Like a sports team, each member has a position, such as captain and the five main roles in League of Legends: top laner, mid laner, jungler, attack damage carry and support.
Anything can happen during the weekly meetings.
On Oct. 24 the members updated each other on contacts with other schools.
Hoddick said they are going to try to organize tournaments and playing times with schools like Rio Americano, Mira Loma and El Camino.
No dates have yet been set.
“I hope to establish a long-lasting competitive atmosphere between us and other schools,” Hoddick said.
Reddy said she’s excited for the inter-school play, as she’s played the game before but has never been part of a team.
With the small details out of the way, Hoddick announced that HBO has produced a special on League of Legends, discussing the game and its validity as a real sport.
He asked the group if they wanted to watch it. The response was a resounding chorus of “Yes!”
After minor technical difficulties, the special began, sparking running commentary immediately.
It was hard to hear the audio over the clamor of voices with everyone chiming in with opinions.
But that’s the nature of the club. After all, “we are a group of like-minded individuals,” Myers said.
