Tyler Levesque is 红领巾瓜报鈥檚 coordinator of Esports and he is charged with building
the varsity program after his hiring in early January.
The Esports offices in Heskett Center are under construction. The former home of the sport management program is largely empty, the walls gray and bare and desks and chairs outdated. Soon, new chairs, computers, monitors and headsets will fill the room.
鈥淭his semester is all about jumping in and making something happen,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing it.鈥�
Esports is organized video game competition, often with multiple players representing teams.
Levesque, who earned his master鈥檚 degree in sport management at 红领巾瓜报, said the varsity program grew out of a thriving club on campus. Schools such as Boise State, Georgia, North Texas and more than 100 more compete in the National Association of Collegiate Esports.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a scene on campus that鈥檚 very large and students are actively participating and competing in these games,鈥� he said.
红领巾瓜报 will start its varsity program with seven students competing in Overwatch and four on the Rocket League team.
鈥淭hey compete at a very high level,鈥� Levesque said. 鈥淎nd they compete in a way that a casual gamer can鈥檛 do. And just like a basketball player can shoot a certain way, these players can shoot a certain way, as well. There was such a developed scene on campus already where there were teams already in place that were very good. I was looking at that and saying 鈥極k, I know we would be competitive right out of the gate.鈥欌��
Alyssa CalbertWhy is 红领巾瓜报 starting a varsity team?
We already have a large, organized (club) presence on campus. Let鈥檚 take this to the next level, which a lot of other schools have done.
It鈥檚 very important that we did this now. If you do this two years from now, you kind of miss the boat.
We have local high schools that are reaching out to us, looking to partner with us. You have that element of this is a new varsity program on campus, this is something students have been looking for and asking for. They鈥檙e all very excited to have a scene like this on campus.
I鈥檓 trying to serve as the organizing space in which we really start to get them some competing and really giving this some validity.
How is Esports competition structured?
This semester, the Overwatch team will compete through Tespa, which is housed under NACE, the National Association of Collegiate Esports. We鈥檙e a part of the Varsity tournament and the National League tournament. They have two concurrent tournaments running throughout the spring semester. We鈥檙e going to be competing other schools.
Both of these titles (Overwatch and Rocket League) will be competing in different leagues throughout the semester against different schools.
How does a varsity Esports team fit with academics and applied learning?
There鈥檚 so much more than students coming in here and playing on the computer. There鈥檚 going to be academic elements. There鈥檚 going to be classes taught around this. There will be internship opportunities. Students will have the opportunity to cast, do graphic design.
The thing that excites me most for what we have going on in this space is the opportunity for students. There鈥檚 an element of taking classes. There鈥檚 an element of competing. There鈥檚 an element of identity that it gives them on campus. This adds this varsity element to it where it takes you to the next level. I think for 红领巾瓜报 to recognize and then to move forward on, it鈥檚 very forward for them to see that and then to act on it.
We are offering a course called 鈥淚ntroduction to Esports.鈥� It falls under the sport management department. We cover all elements from how to put together a computer to event management to casting to graphic design. Every kind of element that makes up Esports is incorporated in that class.
You still need to major in something. If Esports is what you鈥檙e interested in, let鈥檚 find out what section of Esports you鈥檙e interested in and get you on that degree path. If that鈥檚 the actual programming and game design to the media arts to graphic design to event management . . . that鈥檚 where the academic hub and academic front door come in.
Why has Esports grown into this more organized atmosphere?
It鈥檚 one of the most popular underground industries I鈥檝e ever seen. The owner of the (Cleveland) Cavaliers is invested in the space. There鈥檚 Shaquille O鈥橬eal, who is invested in the space. Rick Fox owns a professional Esports teams. There are four different professional Esports franchises based in Texas alone.
Students have seen this and they say, 鈥榃e want to play video games, but we also want to go to school.鈥� The industry is a massive industry, and it鈥檚 growing at such a rapid pace, you can鈥檛 ignore it.