OCU’s esports organization is participating in several tournaments.
There are varsity and junior varsity teams for Overwatch, Rocket League and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The Overwatch teams each have six members, the Rocket League team has four to five and the Smash team has 10 members. Esports Director Jeff Price said they compete online in the virtual reality lab, and an esports lab is currently being built. The organization is the same group which runs Smashcade every Sunday night in the Great Hall in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center.
“I was speaking with the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and there was a strong desire for the university to create a team and also create a club so that not only can people play competitively, but we could also have a way in which students could just play for fun and be social,” Price said.
Price said tryouts for the esports team took place two weeks ago. Tryouts for next year’s team will take place in the spring, and scholarships will be offered for playing on these teams starting next year.
“For Smash, it was a round-robin tryout; so one v. ones until there was an obvious winner,” said Austin Hogue, president of the esports organization and member of the Smash team. “Overwatch, we filled people in positions and then see how they played and rotated people out based on their preferences. Rocket League, it was again one v. one seeing who was the better player, and we formed teams based off that.”
Price said they currently hold membership with the National Association of Collegiate Esports, and they have an application submitted for membership with Tespa, another international collegiate esports organization. Price also said they are considering starting teams for Call of Duty and League of Legends.
Price said the group hopes to start weekly meetings soon for the club portion of the esports organization, which does not require trying out. At these meetings, students will be able to play different games outside of a competitive structure. The club will produce online content, work on streaming games online, have parties, and support the esports teams.
“There’s a function of supporting the varsity teams as well, so if somebody wants to come and be a part of that, maybe they’re a writer or maybe they do video editing and they want to create,” Price said. “It’s just like any other sports team. There needs to be a booster part of that, and that all would be a part of what the club would do.”
The Overwatch team is currently playing in a pre-season Tespa tournament, the Rocket League team is competing in a NACE tournament and the Smash team is preparing to compete.
“Can’t wait,” Hogue said.
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