Corbin’s Ayden Messer finishes spring e-sports season at state semifinalist

Last week, Corbin High School freshman Ayden Messer made history by advancing to the semifinal round of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s spring e-sports state championships. Messer competed in the NBA2K bracket, and recently took some time to discuss e-sports, his experiences at state, and more.

This is year number two of e-sports at Corbin High School, correct?

Yes.

Were you on the inaugural team as an eighth grader?

No.

People are getting more used to e-sports in our area, but it is still very much a new thing. What would you like to say about e-sports competition to anyone who might be curious?

It’s good to have practice [with the games], and to know what you’re doing. I have been playing NBA2K for a long time. Since I was 11. I have put a lot of hours into it, and I just figured that now would be my time to make my debut in e-sports.

Was competing in e-sports something that you already had in mind when you came to the high school? How did you get started?

I was talking to my friends, and telling them that if they had a 2K sports team I would definitely make it to state, because I knew I was good at it. Coach [Erik Steely] overheard us and he said that they did have a 2K team. I took the offer to join, and was able to get to state.

Other athletics have regular seasons that lead up to the playoffs. E-sports does as well, correct?

Yes. There is a fall season, which I didn’t play in, and then you have the spring season. It kind of depends on how many people are playing, but the top eight go to state. I was number ten, but I got a good win in my last game, so that bumped me up to number eight. Then I was able to knock out the number two guy.

You ended up finishing the season as a semifinalist. As you advanced in competition, did you notice an increase in difficulty?

Oh yeah. There is definitely a difference. In the regular season I was beating people and they were only scoring maybe ten points, but in the playoffs it was neck-and-neck. It was really close.

Is your plan to go ahead and compete in both the fall and spring e-sports seasons beginning next year?

Yes. I would rather have a chance at two championships than just one.

What will you be doing between now and the start of the next season?

Well, every year a new 2K game drops, so you have to get familiar with how it works. You have to get used to the controls and the animations, and all of that stuff. I will just be practicing in the offseason once the new game comes out.

You have three more years in high school, but have you thought about one day competing in e-sports collegiately?

I want to go big time into it. I want to go to college for it, but I’m not sure if they’ll offer a college 2K team.

If opportunities presented themselves for you to do e-sports at the next level, but in a different game, is that something that you would be interested in?

I’ve really spent too much time in 2K. I could try other games, but I really want to be all in with 2K.

You have plenty of time to decide all of that. In the meantime, how would you like to see things progress with e-sports at Corbin?

We didn’t have a lot of people this year, so I would like to see it grow. Other than just me competing in 2K, I would really like to see some more kids playing.