New Esports Center officially dedicated, open for competition

Clark Chamberlin, Opinions Editor|December 9, 2022

Kalle Evjen

By the power of a gift from the Pohlmann family, Esports Director Ryan Sextro, with the assistance of a few seniors, has reinvented the Pohlmann Center. Not only will the Pohlmann Center remain a classroom, but it now is the long-term home for the esports program.

President Fr. Ronny O’Dwyer S.J., along with the Blackrobe Society and esports team members, held a dedication ceremony on Dec. 8 for the new facility.

“Because of [Greg Pohlman] and the many other generous benefactors who envisioned a space for a unique learning environment, where our students are provided the competitive edge they will need in the global context, this hands-on learning will inspire and prepare our young men to transform the world,” Fr. O’Dwyer said. “The Pohlmann Esports Room will be the anchor of an ambitious plan to put our school on the forefront of innovative leadership in the next generation of Jesuit education.”

The center will provide a place for the esports team to compete as part of the Missouri Scholastic Esports Federation, which has over 100 schools and 2000 participants from all over the state.

One esports team will play multiple games, including NHL and Halo: Infinite during the winter season, and Super Smash Bros, Valorant, and League of Legends during the spring season. 

“It makes esports kind of unique,” Mr. Sextro said. “You play soccer, and you’re just playing soccer, but in e-sports, you specialize in a game to play [per season].”

Mr. Sextro believes that the addition of an esports team will be significant for the school as a whole, allowing those who are not inclined to sports to have a chance to develop a competitive side and improve the academic achievement of the players.

“Academic esports has been shown to increase general student positivity about school,” Mr. Sextro said. “[Students] don’t miss school as much, and they’re more engaged in their classes when they know they have to keep grades up. Not to mention the coolness of the program itself and how good that’s going to be for admissions.”

Many seniors helped Mr. Sextro with the program, including Will Schiller, Kalle Evjen, Henry Anyimadu, Even Scanlon, JT Depke, David Breuer, Ben Niebruegge, and Jason Wetter. Henry was part of the original planning of the program and pitched presentations to the admissions team.

“I’m pretty excited,” Anyimadu said. “I think it will not only bring a lot of people to De Smet, but the people who are already here will enjoy it a lot.”

The 12 computers are using powerful components, including 11th gen Intel i7s and Nvidia 3070 GPUs. In addition to PCs, several gaming consoles including Nintendo Switches will be installed in the room.

“I think it’s going to end up being a huge net positive for the school and for our whole community,” Mr. Sextro said. “I’m looking forward to the stuff that happens in the next eight to ten months, it’s going to be a really exciting time for the school as a whole.”