A look at esports at WCC

by ETHAN BERMAN
Staff Writer

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct figures about the percentage of schools in the area that offer esports as well as information about prizes.

If you’re a video gamer, enjoy being competitive, and would like to be on a team participating in tournaments, you’d best get in touch with Matt Lucas, the WCC Sports Office supervisor.

In March 2020, WCC started offering students opportunities to collaborate and play competitive video games together. When the esports program at WCC was introduced, the staff created a survey for interested students.

Peter Leshkevich, the director of Student Development and Activities, said that 175 WCC students expressed interest in esports.

Leshkevich continued, “The majority were PC gamers. We’ve only been doing consoles because they’re more accessible. We plan to shift the focus to PC gaming and get hardware so that we can get a formal team together, similar to our soccer teams and other sports teams.”

“The survey results were clear-cut,” said Lucas, “We’ve been listening to the students. We even have information on what times and dates would work for the majority of students to participate.”

The tournaments are held Saturdays at 5 p.m. EST once a month. Click here to see the schedule for upcoming tournaments during the semester.

The first WCC esports tournament started in the summer of 2020. By popular demand, the game of choice was Super Smash Bros.

“When we did our first tournament during the summer, there were about 6-7 students. It’s something you’d expect for the first time doing it,” said Lucas.

With the collapse of the sports industry involving physical contact, esports has been an avenue to try and alleviate the stress of not being actively engaged in the community.

“Esports has been something I’ve been watching. It’s been something that students have been expressing more interest in over the last three years, especially since it’s been growing as a respected field of sports,” said Lucas.

The students aren’t the only ones who expressed interest. Rose Bellanca, president of WCC, has talked about esports for a long time.

Bellanca is very aware of up-and-coming industries, Leshkevich said, and is always exploring how WCC can provide students with the skill sets needed to succeed.

“Seeing how quickly esports is expanding as an industry and hobby, President Bellanca definitely took an interest in incorporating esports into WCC’s programming,” he said.

The esports program has recently started moving forward with additional video game titles, such as League of Legends, Call of Duty: Cold War, Overwatch, and Rocket League. Introducing these games has opened avenues for more players to be involved.

According to Lucas, they’re also starting to offer prizes to winning teams for participation during tournaments, which are funded by the college.

“A tournament needs a certain number of participants to be able to hand out prizes,” Lucas said. “It’s a great incentive to get more students at WCC involved with the esports program.”

It has not been easy getting the esports program set up, as there is limited outreach for it.

Developing an esports program is a strategic priority for the college, said Leshkevich.

“As we were interviewing lots of colleges that already had an esports program, that was their advice. Base the growth of the program on the needs of the students. You need to understand what the students want, then build the program to meet those needs.”

According to Leshkevich, a competitive analysis of local colleges and high schools, found that over 75% of responding regional high schools had esports programs. More than 50% of responding regional universities and community colleges had esports programs.

Twenty-five students have joined the WCC student Discord so far. To be invited to the WCC esports Discord server, you must sign up to be a part of the team.

“The students have been great. We get lots of feedback from students in the Discord server. They’ve definitely helped in making this possible for us,” said Lucas.

He continued, “Our WCC Sports staff is happy to log on during the tournaments. Even if they land on a Saturday or an evening, if it involves helping the Esports community we have here at WCC, we have a certain dedication to it. Anything to help.”

Even though it’s a small cluster of students in esports as of now, there are still eligibility requirements to meet. To join, one must: