BUFFALO, N.Y. — Usually, video games and school don't mix, except at St. Francis High School in Hamburg.
The school's new eSports arena is bringing competitive gaming to campus. On Wednesday, the school added 13 new smartboards and six digital bulletin boards to the space.
The school said it plans to have the space open weekly so that even those players not on the school's competitive team can enjoy the space.
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Officials at St. Francis High School said eSports offers students the same trials and tribulations offered by any other sport.
"The competitive nature in the aspect of that still exists in eSports, and these guys will have frustrations when they lose," according to Tim Monahan, the moderator of the school's eSports program. "They'll have frustrations when a team member is not performing as well as everybody else, but that's the same adversity that you'll see on the field.
"That's when captains can rise up and other guys can support each other and get each other on board. So everything that we love about sports, the competitive nature of it exists the same way in the video game world. And that's what we're hoping these guys get out of this and they can learn some skills along the way as well."
This spring St. Francis High is taking part in generation eSports, a nationwide competition featuring schools from around the country. During the event, students have the chance to win college scholarships.