BROKEN BOW – Broken Bow High School held a signing ceremony for Dane Sidel on Thursday. Sidel received a scholarship to Highland Community College in Kansas not to play football, basketball or wrestle, but to compete at video games.
Esports have seen a rapid growth in popularity in recent years. Athletic Director Jeff Ellis said as far as he knows it’s the first time a Broken Bow student has received an esports scholarship.
Sidel, whose gamertag is biggiecheese, specializes in Nintendo’s popular fighting game series Super Smash Bros. He said he first became interested in playing competitively when he was about ten years old.
Sidel said his love of gaming goes hand-in-hand with his plan to major in computer science.
Coach Matt Ludwick said that because esports are not regulated by the NCAA players are allowed to be professional and get paid while still in college. He said the number of players in his program has more than doubled in the past year.
Sidel’s mother, Kelli, said she’s glad there’s another avenue for students to get involved and get scholarships beyond traditional sports.
Despite being a community college, the Highland esports team competes against much larger schools from around the country, including LSU, Missouri and Kansas State.
