WASHINGTON, N.C. (WNCT) — Beaufort County Schools has three different Esports programs in their high schools.

The team isn’t playing on the baseball diamond or even on the basketball court. Instead, they’re playing in the virtual world.

“You get a group of kids that are used to being at home by themselves, they’re playing their games or doing all the stuff, but now you put them in a classroom environment, you put them where they’re together they have to become a team,” says Will Tyso, Washington High School CTE teacher and Esports coach.

“Heavily … it was a great thing for me. Because really, after school, I just be having nothing to do,” says student Christoper Ruffin.

The teams at Washington High School, Northside High School and Beaufort County Early College practice against each other and play other schools from across the country.

“They have to play together, they have to coordinate, they have to talk to each other,” said Northside High Teacher and Esports coach Tyler Singleton. These people come from different backgrounds, these students come from different backgrounds, so they have to get together and work together to win the game.”

They’re learning the skill of teamwork and learning to strategize.

“We get to strategize and build teamwork. It’s very relieving after school,” said Anderson Duncan, a student.

“They were sitting there playing, practicing. And after they finished the game, it went straight into strategy. Okay, how can we better fix this? What worked? Next time we play, who do we need to block?” said Washington High School teacher and Esports coach Sidney McCall.

It’s all practical skills they can use in college and maybe even get money for it.

“The workplace is looking for the skills that they’re developing here, how to work with somebody, how to plan, how to coordinate, how to handle diversity and how to handle difficulties,” says Paul Huggins, BCS, director of Digital Media and Innovative Technology.