A Lincoln E-sports online tournament is being held after school on Friday by the E-sports club, and will run through the first few days of winter break.

While the tournament is only featuring the online card game Hearthstone, there are plans for future gaming events. The current goal of the E-sports club is trying to make the them accessible to all students.”We’re trying to include all games but we are limited by the number of students who sign up,” president of the e-sports club Louie Liu said.

The funding for this first event is coming from the leaders of the E-sports club. First place of the tournament will receive $20 in Hearthstone packs and second place will earn $5. “I know that a lot of students play competitive games so it makes sense that the school should be supportive of the hobby,” senior Louis Duvoisin said.

Principal Peyton Chapman is also backing the club and has been working with club members to set up a date at school for a LAN that will include other players from different schools.

“I’m glad that the school is finally starting to be more inclusive with the hobbies of students other than sports,” Duvoisin said. With more students beginning to play competitive games, the club has planned for a larger tournament in the future. “Louie, Mrs. Chapman, and I are currently setting up a LAN for early January, during a teacher’s planning day,” club leader Colin Phipps said.

A LAN tournament is an event where players bring their own equipment or use the consoles/computers provided in order to play games together in the same building.

“We’re planning on having a larger LAN/tournament featuring League of Legends, Hearthstone, CS:GO, Dota 2, and Super Smash Bros (Brawl, 4),” Louie said. “I’m really happy that the club will be reaching out to include different games for the next event,” senior Ben Michalisko said.

The LAN event at the school is planned for Jan. 20 and students will need to purchase a $3 pass and be passing all of their classes in order to participate. “I think that allowing students to have school tournaments will be valuable for the future of E-sports at Lincoln” Duvoisin said.