ADA – Game on! East Central University has joined the universe of competitive college Esports, fielding a varsity team and forming a campus club.
“We have one official team, the ECU Tiger Esports varsity Overwatch team,” said Wendy Streater, director of the Tommy Hewett M.D. Wellness Center. “We also have an Esports Club with teams playing Counterstrike and Rocket League. We can accommodate other game titles as interest arises.”
Esports is the name for organized, multiplayer video game competition among teams or individuals. Overwatch, Counterstrike and Rocket League are video game titles.
ECU established a temporary Esports lab in the Physical and Environmental Science (PES) building on the north side of the campus. The lab is open to ECU Esports teams only, and will be located in PES 132 until renovations for the permanent Esports lab are complete on the second floor of the Bill S. Cole University Center. There will be a designated area for public (student) use equipped with the same gaming technology in the renovated space.
ECU will host an open tournament for high school and college students on April 11, and participants may be invited to tryout a couple of weeks later for the Fall 2020 team. There are Esports scholarship opportunities as well.
“This is an exciting new sport on campus,” Streater said. “Not only that, we are in the process of implementing Esports-specific projects into our current coursework across several academic disciplines, with plans to bring in an Esports curriculum in the near future.”
Interested students can follow ECU Tiger Esports on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Discord, Streater said.
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