By Pranathi Chitta
Staff Writer
@prannydacheetah

Students by day, gamers by night, the Coppell High School League of Legends club consists of gamers who spend much of their time on the trending Internet game.

The idea of the club was launched last year but this year the club has developed significantly.

The main goal of League of Legends is to destroy the enemy’s tower, similarly to capture the flag. There are 30 levels in the game within the five major ones: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, Platinum and Challenger, the challenger level being the highest.

“[Senior Sungchan Na] and I founded the club so we could compete with other schools and prove that Coppell is good at everything,” senior and co-club president Young Lee said.

Na and Lee are both co-presidents of the League of Legends club and spread the word about the popular game.

“This year we have three teams within the club,” Lee said. “A team, B team and C team. The best players are on A team. Each member tries out to be on a team.”

Based on their skills and strategies, the students will be placed on to a certain team by Lee and Na. Tryouts are currently being held to figure out which members will be playing on the high school’s league.

“The students on the high school league will be the team to play against other schools,” Lee said. “We estimate that there will be about 21 members on the team.”

Pre-Calculus teacher James Behlen is the sponsor of the club and uses his knowledge of gaming to help and guide the members.

“Mr. Behlen totally supported us,” Lee said. “He was really excited about this since he’s a big game fanatic.”

Behlen has been playing League of Legends since the game was released in 2009.

“I don’t do a lot but just help the members,” Behlen said. “[Lee] is the one who organizes it all. He’s the man.”

The club could win $35,000 in scholarships if they win the high school league competition against other schools. The club will consistently play in the competition until they make the top eight teams are decided and they will play face to face.

“The club is currently practicing for the high school championship,” senior member SooJin Park said. “So we’re just practicing as a team for now.”

After trying out, Park is on the A team and continues to strive to get to the next level in the game.

“The club allows me to bond with other people who also play [League of Legends],” Park said. “It helps me to learn to communicate with others and allows us to improve in our teamwork.”

Although the game is blocked at school, members record their games and talk about it during their meetings.

“At the meetings we will talk about how we can make the plays better,” Lee said. “[Behlen] also steps in sometimes to teach us how to coordinate better at the game.”

There are 70 members in the club currently and meetings are held in Behlen’s room every second Wednesday of the month after school. Members can decide to tryout if they want to get on a higher team.

“It’s awesome that they’ve entered this competition and have a chance to win,” Behlen said. “The competition allows each member to see who they’re actually playing.”