Before becoming regional and national PlayVs NBA2K champions, basketball was the priority for brothers and Eastern High School students Taylor and Tyler Frost. However, gaming and esports have always been a major part of the brothers lives, originally to their mother’s chagrin.
“When I noticed it was becoming a distraction, I decided they could only play on weekends,” said their mother Sherry Williams.
It wasn’t until she was cleaning Taylor’s room one day and found tons of cash in his closet, that she realized how good he was at the game.
“All of this money started falling,” Williams recalled. “And this is during COVID, so of course I’m like, ‘Where is all this money coming from?’”
It turns out he had been inviting friends over to play 2K, with wagers involved, and he wasn’t losing.
Despite his successful entrepreneurial and competitive venture, she felt that the game was impacting Taylor’s grades and would routinely come and take his system to help him focus on school.
Then things reached a boiling point,
“After going through this countless times and each time somehow the console would end up back in his room, I got really frustrated and one night I took his Xbox and tossed it off our balcony,” Williams said.
“I just heard the screen door opening and I heard the big slam on the concrete. I thought it was broken and I wouldn’t be able to play anytime soon,” said Taylor Frost.
Surprisingly, the console did not break.
It wasn’t until a discussion with Coach Lee James, IT instructor and the founder and coach of esports at Eastern, that Williams felt comfortable about her sons being part of the team.
“I had an open house and Tyler was in one of my classes and Sherry reached out to me about her concern that her sons were playing too much. I assured her our coaches keep students accountable and told her to allow them to come to tryout,” James said. “Later down the line at tryouts, there’s this kid who is beating the brakes off of everybody and we realized it was Taylor and then everything connected.”
The Eastern esports coaching staff immediately reached out to Williams to tell her the program needed Taylor.
Fast forward to today and both Tyler and Taylor have gained some impressive hardware.
Taylor won the 2023 PlayVs Cup National Championship in blowout fashion and back to back Eastern Regional Championships.
“I always loved playing video games with my brother, it’s even more fun now that I can play competitively at school with people I’m around every day” said Taylor.
Tyler followed his brother’s victory by winning the 2024 Eastern Regional PlayVs Championship.
“When we started playing competitively I realized I could do something with this,” said Tyler.
Developing Eastern’s Esports Team
Though the team can boast impressive achievements, the esports program at Eastern wasn’t always a powerhouse.
“It was tough in those first days, we took some beatings for sure as we tried to get the program organized,” said James.
Programs including PlayVS and Wizards District Gaming have helped fund Eastern’s esports program with computers, top-of-the-line gaming chairs and gear, while facilitating matches against other top-ranked high schools.
The mission of PlayVS is to make a difference in the esports community by providing amateur gamers the opportunities to pursue leadership roles, community building, character development, and the ability to pursue esports in college and beyond.
“They provide structure, a league, and matchmaking. They help set up the events and have provided resources to help the gaming community succeed,” said James.
Esports gives students the opportunity to gain skills you would get playing other sports; teamwork, being accountable, consistency, and being calm under pressure.
“What we want here at Eastern is for students to gain skills and have as many adult connections as possible so there is a smaller chance of slipping through the cracks. It brings another person in their life that is asking about their grades and keeping them on the right track.” emphasized James.
Esports a Path to Success Beyond High School
For the Frost brothers, esports has been a path to valuable lessons and a gateway to further opportunities beyond high school.
“Playing video games is more than just playing a game, there are skills like problem-solving, strategizing and marketing that they can take into the real world. There are colleges that will pay for your kids to go to school to play esports just like basketball or football.”
Taylor’s goal is to win another championship and potentially play for an esports program in college.
Tyler originally wanted something to do after school other than physical sports but now, he thinks this may be a path for him down the road.
“I would like it [esports] to be a career, I can see it being a big part of my future.”