By Julius Millan
Sports has become a natural part of American life. Millions of Americans digest all different kinds of sports, like basketball, football, soccer and baseball. Many of them participate in such sports with their friends and family. Some have been able to lead successful lives as professional athletes.
But what if I told you there was a new, rapidly rising sport in Connecticut and New England? A scene where kids and young adults are playing video games against each other for glory and not just for fun?
Some games, like Overwatch, are scored based on number of rounds won, while others, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, are based on how many points you earned over the course of a couple rounds.
Collegiate eSports has begun to grow in popularity in Connecticut universities who seek to take full advantage of the rising videogaming scene over the past five years.
One such school, Quinnipiac University, has been at the forefront of bringing eSports to the forefront. But the path has not always been easy.
Quinnipiac alumnus Justin Ellis, current director of esports at Huntingdon College in Alabama, said it was a long road to getting any attention for eSports.
“When I first made the eSports club as a student, I just wanted to play games with my friends.” Ellis said. “We became more successful each year and the school finally caught wind of us and allowed eSports to grow as much as it has at Quinnipiac.”
Between late 2019 and early 2020, eSports began to be officially recognized as a club sport at Quinnipiac, putting it under oversight of director of recreation Michael Medina.
Medina was pivotal in negotiations with provost Debra Lebowitz and chief experience officer Tom Ellett for a dedicated gaming suite in late 2020. The creation of the gaming suite was a unique opportunity to hone into the eSports industry.
“It wasn’t difficult for (Ellett and Liebowitz) when they started talking about what esports is and where it’s going, to really feel like we’re not only taking the student experience piece, but they’re also taking something that is a future career path for the students because of the multi-billion dollar business that esports is right now,” Medina said.
Every day, the eSports lab is open for a few hours for everyone to sit down and play any game from Minecraft or Fortnite to the Sims on consoles like the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X on one of the 24 computer setups.
Once the evening rolls around, the lab is shut down. Players on each team warm up and play their respective titles against other schools. Like other sports, sometimes the Bobcats win and cheer. Other times, it’s a somber sight.
After Quinnipiac’s dedicated esports lab opened in late 2021, success followed. The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate team clinched two straight MAAC titles in 2022 and 2023, and the Valorant team won their first MAAC championship in 2023 in dominant fashion.
Other schools throughout Connecticut have started their own eSports programs. The University of New Haven has competed in titles such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Overwatch for the past few years.
Fairfield University competes against Quinnipiac in the MAAC for eSports. They have a dedicated eSports room inside their RecPlex. To create their own eSports lab, they partnered with Future Tech Enterprise, an IT solutions provider.
Future Tech Enterprise CEO Bob Venero said that eSports continues to explode both commercially and in interest to students.
“Esports is a great way to drive student engagement and connections, as well as attract prospective students,” Venero said. “It is also an industry that continues to grow and offer up new job opportunities for students in almost any discipline including advertising, design, finance, marketing, and technology.”
The MAAC has held an official competition for eSports titles during the past three years. In partnership with the Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup, the winner of the conference in each title is granted a spot in the competition.
Colleges in Connecticut are not the only ones with burgeoning eSports programs. Fisher College, based in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a titan in New England. The college boasts nationally ranked teams in titles such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Call of Duty.
The eSports industry is massive. Hundreds of companies invest billions of dollars into competitions throughout the world. Players in a variety of titles come together to try and compete for “best in the world.”
Well-known companies Red Bull, Mercedes-Benz, Samsung, and specifically Intel – who signed a $100 million deal with the Electronic Sports league in 2018 – have been at the forefront of expanding the eSports industry for years.
Some of these players start competing right here in Connecticut.
To try and foster some of that competitive spirit, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, or CIAC, partnered with PlayVs in 2019 to help organize competitions with various high schools in the state.
When former PlayVS Director of Marketing and Community Allin Louv first partnered with the CIAC, he realized what kind of opportunity this entailed for high school eSports.
“It’s really starting to grow at the collegiate and professional level,” Louv said. “There was a hole to fill at the high school level. There isn’t any organized sanctioned high school platform for these kids to really hone their skills and compete and get noticed by recruiters. There’s so many college esports college scholarships popping up, but no good way for these kids to kind of apply for them aside from reaching out on their own, and there’s no way for them to be recognized by their school.”
At least, that used to be the case.
Through circuits like the CIAC, students are beginning to receive scholarships for eSports – and students at universities in Connecticut are beginning to push for them.
One junior at Quinnipiac, Andrew Samatulski, says that scholarships for eSports would help keep talent in Connecticut.
“For some of these kids that are very good in games like Rocket League, it’s important for them to get scholarships,” Samatulski said. “If they’re not offered by schools in-state, students are going to want to leave and find someplace that wants to fund their education and fund their development as a gamer.”
That development can start even before the age of ten. Medina’s son competes in a circuit for kids aged nine and under for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
And the students that competed at the CIAC championship hosted by Quinnipiac last Friday at the Rocky Top Student Center began to see the value of what could happen as they develop as gamers and as students. Colleges are beginning to take notice of the esports scene in Connecticut.
Winter in Connecticut is very cold and depressing. The leaves on the trees throughout the state have all fallen off. Snow might cover some of the state after a brutal storm. High winds make it very chilly for people outside without gloves, a scarf and a coat. Life goes on, but outside activities slow down and people are huddled at home trying to stay warm.
But it is springtime for esports in Connecticut. The consoles are booting up. Games are loading. Players are winning against each other. And for some students in high school and college, a chance to play each other in an official competition is all they could ask for.