MILTON, Pa. — Typically, when you think of spending time at the Milton YMCA, exercise equipment comes to mind. But starting next week, students will be invited to play games of a different kind—esports.
"It's gaming tournaments that we will be doing that the kids will be able to play on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and six gaming laptops," said Cortney Lahr, Milton YMCA program director.
Esports is short for electronic sports. It is a form of competition using video games that is growing in popularity worldwide. The Milton YMCA received grant money and donations to start its esports program, which will be open to students in grades two through 12.
"Esports is becoming really big. There's even some high schools around here that actually have it as a sport at their school. We also look at it as kids being able to come together from different school districts and being able to interact with each other," Lahr said.
The esports program starts Monday with tournaments and prizes. There are a lot of games to choose from.
"Fortnight, Minecraft, Rocket League, Madden, NBA, MLB, all those sorts of games," Lahr said.
A free demo night will be held Friday from 5:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. for students to learn more about the program and try it out.