One Year Later, Super Coach Jason Lund Is Brimming With Confidence Over His Esports Team

It’s been a wild ride for the Cape Elizabeth Esports program. Since its inception one year ago, school system administrator and lifelong gamer Jason Lund has grown the program from fledgling upstart to school tradition – with a bigger team and a broader range of students, from football players to kids who have never stepped foot onto an athletic field. Juggling so many personalities has proven to be a challenge, but it’s one the CEHS coach has tackled head on.

“As a Super Coach, it’s been rewarding to find within myself the skills and communication required to be an effective advisor/coach/general manager to the team,” Lund told PlayVS. “The students are demanding, but it’s their passion that drives the program, and I want to encourage that passion to keep building towards something great.”

The overwhelming support for the team has even allowed them to expand the number of games to three, and returning players on the League of Legends and Rocket League squads are gunning for a spot in the state finals at the conclusion of our PlayVS fall season. 

“Last year was ‘year zero.’ It was more like, what are we? How does this work? How can we compete? This year it’s more about building our strategy and fixing our communication with one another,” said Lund. 

The first priority, though, has been getting everyone on the same page. A difficult proposition given the challenges with remote learning during Covid-19, which has been met with regularly scheduled Zoom sessions and a preseason that has given further opportunity to sharpen their communications. With that all behind them, the team thinks it’s ready for the season. And as it quickly approaches, Lund has been given full-throated support by school officials, from the athletic director to the local superintendent.

“They understand the current professional scene, the college leagues and clubs, and the ability to generate an interest from students who normally engage in extracurricular activities in addition to those who never have.”

Everyone is excited to build on what the team did in 2019. At the end of the year, they even got new gaming rigs for the students, a reward that was quickly turned into team building when – get this – the students saw their computers arrive in many different parts.

“I had a full room with multiple kids working on each machine, and we had administrators and town staff poking their heads in to check out our project,” he said. “Numerous students said that it was a great experience and that they’re even thinking of building their own gaming machine.” 

Well aware of the ribbing and the goofing off that’s typically associated with gaming as a hobby, Lund saw it as another opportunity for the team to get organized. It’s something he looks forward to doing again whenever classes resume on campus.

“It was a fantastic team building activity that I would do again in a heartbeat.”

Once they finish tightening their communications and can function better as a unit, Coach Lund sees no limit to what the Cape Elizabeth team can achieve. Developing relations with his players has been crucial, he says, and as schedules begin rolling out the team is putting its finishing touches on in-game skills they know they’ll need to carry them to their ultimate goal.

“No one on our team has had any reservations jumping in with ideas and plans,” he said. “The excitement and energy they bring each day we ‘ve met is something I’ve looked forward to seeing every week.

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