Two high schools from Orange County were included in USA Today’s list of the top high school esport teams since 2019.
It ranked both La Quinta High School from the Garden Grove Unified School District and Sunny Hills High School from the Fullerton Joint Union High School District No. 17 on the list.
The rankings were based on overall data tallied by PlayVS, a platform that supports coaches and students, tracks statistics, and is the only place in North America where high school students can play for recognized state championships. PlayVS is the official partner of the National Federation of State High School Associations.
“We’re so proud of our esports teams for their achievements these past few years,” said Terry Nguyen, a computer science and cybersecurity pathway teacher from La Quinta High School. “Our Esports Program through both extra-curricular and co-curricular opportunities hopes to continue to foster a welcoming space at LQ where students can build meaningful relationships and character through gaming.”
The two teams tied with 11 other high school teams, with each earning a record of three championships titles.
“We are extremely proud of our Lancer esports team and their accomplishments over the past few years,” said Sunny Hills Principal Craig Weinreich. “To have our amazing students recognized in this way for their performance is an honor. Looking ahead to this year, we are excited to bring on board another outstanding coach in Sonya Joyce to continue this success while also moving our Coding and Gaming pathway forward here at Sunny Hills as well.”
Esports is competitive online video gaming that engages students while encouraging communication and coordination among student athletes. By playing video games, students are able to deepen their levels of interaction and engagement, and they’re able to communicate more effectively. Gaming also exposes them to a booming industry with a wide variety of careers, from on-screen sports analysts to the back-end engineers who build the games.
On a separate list, USA Today ranked Sunny Hills High School as the No. 1 team with the most “League of Legends” wins of all time with 73 titles. La Quinta High School ranked No. 5 with 60 wins.