Linn senior Logan Leibrecht, 17, has made school history as the first esports player to be offered scholarships to play at the collegiate level.

Leibrecht, also a varsity baseball player, has been offered numerous esports scholarships by more than 30 colleges across the country to play in their esports programs. One of these scholarships, worth $18,000 a year, is to play for Missouri Baptist University.

“I haven’t even hit (the) second semester of my senior year,” said Leibrecht, adding it’s like a breath of fresh air to be offered so many scholarships, “knowing I always have an option now that it is so early in the year because I didn’t know if playing this was going to get me as far as it has.”

Leibrecht wants to major in business and marketing with a focus on digital marketing but hasn’t fully decided on his career path. He also hasn’t decided on which college he will attend.

Leibrecht has been playing Rocket League since 2015 and joined the newly formed esports team at Linn High School last year. 

Leibrecht said that esports haven’t negatively affected his school work in any way.

“It kind of keeps me motivated to do well in school,” said Leibrecht. “Keeping a higher GPA allows you to get more scholarships on top of going to college with esports.”

Leibrecht is also surprised at how big esports have become in the United States and couldn’t imagine this being a path to college even a few years ago.

“It’s pretty crazy to me,” said Leibrecht. “To be honest, this was never heard of a few years ago. It is such a new thing. Colleges are adapting to it and seeing it as a whole new revenue for their school.”

More than 175 colleges and universities have started an officially recognized varsity esports program according to the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE). As of 2018, NACE member institutions offered $15 million in esports scholarships and financial aid. 

The Collegiate StarLeague (CSL) as of 2020 has also awarded over $1 million in scholarship money to student gamers. 

Currently, the esports market is on track to surpass $1.5 billion in revenue by 2023, prompting many institutions to start an esports program on their campuses.

“Adding esports to your program is an amazing way of getting more students engaged in an activity,” said Leibrecht. “A lot of kids know they’re not athletic. They know they’re not able to go out there and run all the time. Playing esports allows you to get into a different sporting activity. It helps get you around a lot of people. It is a social interaction.”

Leibrecht thanked his mother, Deborah Epps, for being supportive of his hobby, and said that she always helped him out in any way she could. He also encourages other students to try out for esports.