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Esports, or electronic sports that focus on competitive video games in an organized environment, have been growing in popularity on campuses across the U.S. They can be single player, team-oriented multi-player in battle arenas, or virtual versions of physical sports.
League of Legends, for example, is a team-based strategy game where two teams of five powerful champions face off to destroy the other's base. Valorant is a first-person tactical hero shooter game, while Rocket League is a vehicular soccer video game. Overwatch is a team-based action game set in the future in which players can assume the identities of heroes battling it out around the globe.
Pitt State’s esports program formed last year as part of Campus Recreation, in affiliation with the National Association of Collegiate Esports and the National Esports Collegiate Conference. It is coordinated by Gabriel Cozart, a 2021 graduate.
Pitt State has made it to the playoffs in League of Legends and Rocket League, and to semi-finals in Valorant.
“I’m proud of them,” Cozart said. “With the caliber of competition we were up against, it would be like our football team going up against a D1 team.”
Cozart is passionate about gaming and its benefits.
“The cool thing about esports is it is a sport that is so inclusive and so accessible — anyone can do it,” he said. “There is a stigma around gamers that they live in their moms’ basements and don’t come out for days at a time, but the students we have competing are in very high academic standing. They’re majoring in Business, Biology, Computer Information, Chemistry, Accounting, Mathematics, Music. We had one just earn two Bachelor’s degrees and another earn a Master’s degree.”
Unlike what stereotypes might suggest, it’s a form of competition with a highly social element, he noted — similar to any other athletic event on a university campus.
“You get to interact with people all over the world who share your interests,” he said. “My buddy is stationed on an Air Force base in Germany, and playing games online with him is a way for us to hang out, spend time together, stay in touch.”
Esports tournaments typically are open to the public, and Pitt State’s will be no different: competitors will be set up on stage in the Dotty and Bill Miller Theater, while spectators will view via livestream from the larger Linda and Lee Scott Performance Hall.
“It’s really no different than going to watch a football game. It’s the same mindset — the reason you’d go to watch anything competitive,” Cozart said. “You watch because you enjoy the game, you like to see it played at the highest level possible, you get to be around people who share that same interest. Sometimes you expand your social network and meet new friends to play online with.”
The PSU Esports Expo will begin at 10 a.m. and continue throughout the day with the following match-ups: VALORANT, Rocket League, Overwatch, League of Legends.
Competing universities will include Emporia State University, Missouri Western State University, and tentatively Missouri Southern State University.
There is no charge for spectators.
