“I never thought gaming could get you into college,” Amy Lovell, Courtney Lovell’s mother, said after her daughter signed a letter of intent at Keokuk High School that includes an impressive scholarship to play collegiate ESports at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 2.
Courtney has been captain of the KHS ESports team for two years, the program started in Fall 2023. She will continue playing the “Overwatch” game at Grand View and is considered an avid “Overwatch” player and has achieved high rankings within the game’s competitive systems.
“She is flexible, knowledgeable and understands the game in a way that helps her react quickly and counterplay teams well,” Scott Gooding, KHS ESports head coach, said. “She is mentally tough and keeps her cool in intense team fights, while also being supportive and encouraging to her teammates.”
Courtney, who will be the first in her family to attend college, credits her supportive family as being a large part of her success in the program, school and her plans for the future.
“My dad bought me a PC [gaming computer] in support of me doing this,” Courtney added. “He’s such a good dad.”
Gooding describes Courtney as being just as supportive of her team and said that she is “pivotal in not only supporting the team in any role needed but also in helping teach the game to younger students. … She’s an amazing team player and has a lot of experience in her role as support.”
In the team’s inaugural season, they were defeated in the first round of playoffs, but in the second year of play the team punched a ticket to the state competition. Gooding had said the state competition participation would draw the attention of recruiters to the Keokuk students.
Gooding explained that Courtney has been a big part of that success and said that “her flexibility and skill with various roles and characters within the game is vital to the success we have had in Keokuk.”
Courtney plans to earn her bachelor’s of science in nursing at Grand View.
The Keokuk School Board approved the addition of esports as a competitive league at KHS at a board meeting in July 2023. The Keokuk Community School District (KCSD) was the first school district in Lee County, Iowa, to offer the popular sport starting in the Fall 2023 semester. Students were able to join as a club or as a team, and many students participated socially. Millions of dollars in esports scholarships and aid have been awarded over the last seven years to attend more than 200 colleges universities, according to the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), the main governing body for varsity collegiate esports. Esports majors and careers are becoming more common, and include broadcasting, marketing, graphic design, multimedia production, hospitality, coaching, and management. The University of Iowa, Western Illinois University, and Culver-Stockton College are just a few of the area schools that offer esports at the collegiate level.
For more information on the Iowa High School ESports Association (IAHSEA), go to iahsea.org.
