Senior Sunny Gupta and his friends may just be students within the walls of South Lakes High School, but online they are general managers of imaginary sports teams comprised of professional players.

Once they set their team rosters in the beginning of each season, they score points based on the real-life performances and stats of the athletes they drafted.

Line-ups are adjusted weekly, and some leagues allow participants to trade players.

Gupta joined his father’s fantasy football league when he was seven, and he began playing against his friends when he was in sixth grade. He now competes in four fantasy football leagues simultaneously, as well as basketball, hockey, and baseball ones.

“Every year, I win one of my leagues,” Gupta said.

Gupta attributes these victories to thorough research and good fortune.

“I read articles on ESPN.com to see what the analysts think,” Gupta said. “People can sometimes guess who is going to good that year, but you can never know about injuries and stuff like that. Luck definitely plays a role.”

Gupta’s friend and fantasy foe, senior Paul Fertitta, also participates in multiple leagues at a time.

“It’s hard if you have certain players on your team in one league and you’re playing against those same players in another league,” Fertitta said. “You want to root for them to do well, but they can’t do too well or you’ll lose in the other league.”

Despite the difficulty Fertitta faces, he believes that taking part in fantasy sports is worth it.

“It’s fun,” Fertitta said. “You get to talk smack to your friends, and it adds a new aspect to watching sport.”

Fertitta and his fellow fantasy fanatics used this reasoning to convince senior Zack McIntyre to join a fantasy football league with them during their sophomore year. McIntyre won that league, and he has played fantasy sports ever since.

“It wasn’t for money, but I did gain some pride and bragging rights over my friends,” McIntyre said.

Gupta enjoys trash talking as well, but he puts his money where his mouth is. For him, competing for cash raises the stakes and provides a financial incentive.

“Most of the fantasy leagues that I care about are for money,” Gupta said. “The biggest league that I play in has a $200 entry fee. I’ve done it for the last three years. I won two years ago, and I got $1000. With my friends, I do $10 to $20 though.”

Certain league commissioners will also offer non-financial rewards. For instance, special education teacher David Chase bought a trophy for senior Kumar Singaram when he won his fantasy basketball league.

Although they enjoy the prizes, most fantasy leaguers say that they mainly participate out of love for the love of the game. In fact, some students are so passionate about it that they are taking fantasy contests into the political realm.

“This will be my first year playing fantasy congress,” Fertitta said. “You draft different congressmen, and you get points when they do things like introduce a bill. You try to get more points than your opponents.”

Regardless of whether they are dedicated to athletics or politics, fantasy leagues provide participants with the opportunity to live vicariously through the experiences of professionals.