More Colleges Forming eSports Programs

(Associated Press) - The surging popularity of competitive video gaming across the country has local colleges looking to officially sponsor esports programs just like football teams and cheerleading squads.

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Misericordia University in Dallas will be the first in Luzerne County to offer a program in the booming business. The school is expected to have an esports team in place when classes resume in the fall.

It will be the second college in the region to have such a program, though Luzerne County Community College and King’s College are poised to launch programs as well.

“Right now, what we learned is gaming is the most popular activity for individuals 12 years of age to 24 years of age. If this is happening and we can enhance the enrollment advantages of the university, we should do so,” said Misericordia Athletic Director Chuck Edkins.

Just like any other sport, Misericordia’s team would compete against other schools in a series of video games. Except for one thing: the team wouldn’t have to travel. Games will be played online from a dedicated room in Mercy Hall, equipped with high-end computers and ergonomic chairs.

Stories profiling competitive gamers have documented some of them “practicing” for competitions by playing up to 20 hours a day.

Edkins said the school will help students with time management by limiting access time to the esports room.

“We will have coaches make sure student athletes are balancing their time with their academics,” Edkins said. “They are here to earn a degree.”

Misericordia, a Catholic university, is sponsoring teams in three games and will not sponsor teams in games that are violent or degrading to certain groups of people, he said.

The games they will initially participate in are Rocket League, a vehicular soccer game; League of Legends, a team-based strategy and battle arena game; and Hearthstone, an online digital collectible card game.

Rocket League features teams of three players, League of Legends requires five and Hearthstone is single player, Edkins said. The school likely will have a first, second and third string, he said. There will be a part-time coach for each game and the entire program will have one director, Edkins said.

The National Association of Collegiate Esports oversees competitive gaming at the college level. The organization officially formed in July 2016 with only seven colleges and universities as members. Now, more than 130 schools are members, including Misericordia and Lackawanna College in Scranton.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association, better known as the NCAA, does not currently govern esports.

Edkins said there are several reasons why the competitive video gaming team is being organized by the college’s sports department.

“You’re dealing with competition, teamwork, adversity and working toward a common goal,” Edkins said.

Another is that “athletics knows best how to recruit” players, he said.

Officials with Luzerne County Community College and King’s College say they are getting close to sponsoring esports but there’s nothing official yet.

“We are in the process of implementing an esports program. A comprehensive plan will be announced in the future,” said Rosana Reyes, vice president of enrollment management and student development for LCCC.

Wilkes University doesn’t have any plans at this time to add esports, officials said.

Cheryl Ish, executive director for intercollegiate athletics and recreation at King’s, said the school is still researching how to roll out an esports program.

“There is a lot of enthusiasm for adding esports,” Ish said. “We’re definitely close but we are not ready to say, ‘Yes, this is when we are starting.’”

The explosion in popularity of esports almost forces a college to offer them to lure prospective students, she said.

“It would be like if we had a lot of students on campus playing soccer and we didn’t have a team. The natural progression would be to add a soccer team,” Ish said.

Among local high schools, Riverside in Lackawanna County will become the first with an esports program.

In Luzerne County, Wyoming Area has asked its technology staff to see how a program could be implemented. But officials for the district are still trying to find someone in-house willing to lead a potential program.

“No proposal has been submitted to the Board of Education pertaining to the implementation of an esports after-school club. This won’t occur until a budget is determined and an advisor is comes forth,” said Bob Galella, director of curriculum for Wyoming Area. “At this point in time, no staff member has contacted the high school principal showing an interest in advising such a club. We have not extended it yet to parents or community members until the principal revisits it with staff to exhaust this route first before searching outside of the district.”