E-Sports Player Aden Dale said Cumberland County knows sports are not confined to the field or court. Dale said gaming gives him a chance to learn on-court behaviors and work them onto the virtual battlefield.
“Gaming shaped me [in] realizing how fun it is to play with other players,” Dale said. “It’s a challenge to test my skills and see how I can improve in ways and [have sportsmanship] with others.”
Dale has been gaming for ten years. His first experiences gaming came with playing Call of Duty: Black Ops and live multiplayer battles in World of Warcraft. Dale said his father introduced him to World of Warcraft.
“He started showing me other [controls] and how to do the basic controls,” Dale said. “Then I got addicted to those controls and then I started helping others play those games because I was once where I didn’t know anything.”
Dale said he was blown away when Cumberland County introduced E-sports to their fall schedule last school year.
“I was pretty excited when they first started introducing E-sports,” Dale said. “I was always watching them online during the competitions and I thought that was really cool.”
Now, Dale competes in titles such as Super Smash Brothers, Valorant, Fortnite, Overwatch, and Marvel Rivals. The Jets currently stream all of their E-sports matches on YouTube and Discord, giving fans a front row seat to their competitions.
“I just think we’re going to have a good season on the E-sports team,” Dale said. “I believe we can make it to the playoffs.”
The Upper Cumberland E-Sports Playoffs are currently scheduled for April 2026.
