Gaming has transformed from a popular hobby to an industry worth 1. 4 billion dollars in competitive sports. This industry has led colleges to promote gaming on their campuses. My name is Garrett Polk and I'm the host of the Patriot Student Spotlight at UT Tyler Radio. I had a conversation with Ashley Daniel, the eSports coordinator at UT Tyler, about the cognitive benefits of gaming and the nature of eSports.
So what are eSports for those who are unaware or curious?
Esports is competitive gaming. You are starting to see this more in the K 12 level, collegiate, and it's been around in the pro scene for a long time, so people have been able to compete against other gamers for money, and be able to make a living off of that.
So how did esports make its way onto the UT Tyler campus?
So, way back when, in Around fall 2021, some faculty members decided that they were interested in eSports and researching that. So they sought out a presidential research grant, they got it, and then they were like, How do I actually make these eSports teams appear on campus so that we can conduct this research?
So they used their budget in order to get a space in the Souls School business, and they decided to seek out a student worker in order to help create and facilitate those teams. Uh, I ended up applying for that position. Um, actually they sent out a survey across the UT Tyler campus and said, Would you want to see esports here?
And I replied to it and said, Yes, absolutely. How can I get involved? And they said, We're going to be doing a job posting. Stay tuned. I applied for it. I got it. And then I ended up graduating. I. I guess I left a good impression on the school and the program. Uh, so they ended up going forward and creating a full time position for esports.
So, I was in that role for the interim. I ended up applying for the permanent position. I got it, so that's kinda Where I'm at now with the program.
Yeah, I hear there's kind of a cool story about how you went from the interim to full time It was like the the players went to bat for you wanted you to stay as the coordinator, right?
Josh did decide because whenever I got put on in the interim period he was going to be my supervisor, but he was actually leaving on paternity leave for like almost the whole duration of that time. So, uh, I was kind of getting guidance from people in the office who were also new to being supervisors as well.
And we were all kind of navigating everything together because esports is still like the wild west. There's a real solid blueprint for every school because every school has its own mission involved with that. Um, But Josh did end up interviewing students and asking them how they felt I did with the program and they were part of the Interviewing and hiring process for selecting the eSports coordinator.
So I think they did good about for me and I appreciate that.
That's awesome That's really cool to hear.
So are there intramural eSports like in typical athletic departments?
Uh, yes. In a way, we were trying to launch our recreational esports teams this semester. An issue we were seeing with that is the people who are committed enough to want to be on a recreational team wanted to be at the varsity level.
So a lot of those teams are trying to transition into being our varsity level esports teams. We're seeing that for games called Apex Legends, League of Legends, and Overwatch 2 currently. Um, we're trying to do more events to appeal to more casual gamers, so we are hosting a lot of those on campus as well.
Gotcha. So what does a typical esports team look like?
Right. Um, so it depends on the game, really. Most of them are team oriented games. Uh, usually they consist of five players, except for, uh, some games like Smash Ultimate or Rocket League. Uh, With those, you're gonna see like teams of three players or four players and those teams compete in a vastly different way depending on the game.
Uh, I think the easiest one to think about would probably be Rocket League. It's a three on three game. Uh, you can think of these. Little cars in a anti or semi gravity sort of environment. They're able to drive on the ceiling It's kind of like soccer with those three cars And it sounds like it might be easy, but even driving the car is a challenge in itself
Esports isn't for the faint of heart
So how does this program benefit students after graduation?
So I think a misconception about gaming that a lot of parents have is my kids just sitting in their room. They're gaming They're not talking to people They're not doing anything productive with their time. But I think especially whenever you are involved with Gaming at a competitive level, you're getting a lot of those same soft skills that you would see with traditional sports and athletics.
So, these people are learning time management, they're learning communication skills, uh, and also just the ability to learn and get better at a I think there's a lot of value in that, taking the time to see what you're doing, uh, self reflect about things you could be doing better, um, and the stress management that goes along with being able to take a step back and analyze, um, moments that could be emotional or intense and being able to, uh, Still have a level head about that and learn about what you could do better.
I think it's a very valuable skill It's a very valuable skill.
Are there any divisions in eSports like other sports like basketball soccer?
Sort of because it is the Wild West right now. There's a lot of different eSports conferences For the collegiate level the biggest one right now is probably NACE.
That's the National Association of collegiate eSports They actually did introduce what they're calling their D1 sort of style of division right now That one is pretty interesting. It is all D1 schools, and there is value, I think, in starting to structure esports the way we structure traditional athletics.
Because currently, you'll see a lot of clubs competing against schools with funding to pay for crazy scholarships. Like, you'll see some pro players who maybe skipped college, they jumped into esports right out of high school, they're competing against World, um, elite athletes in eSports. And then they're like, hmm, maybe I should go to the collegiate level and get my degree.
And then they can be dunking on some players who, um, are competing on a club team. So right now, different eSports programs offer different benefits. I think If you offer scholarship money, it is a lot easier to go and pick players because you don't have to, um, rely on finding natural talent and growing that talent.
It's easier to just kind of buy an eSports team that way, which, I mean, that's obviously great if you're able to take gaming and pay for your college. Amazing. Um, but I think there should be more separation because right now you do see clubs competing against some world star athletes, uh, in eSports who have their whole, tuition paid for, so.
But there are scholarship opportunities for those in esports?
Yes, absolutely. You just have to look for them. Uh, I think one of the big ways you'll also see that is just trying to talk to esports coordinators at different schools because they are also able to help you see what regular scholarship are opportunities you can find awaiting you at that university as well, so.
In general, what do you think the future for esports is? I think it's very good. Uh, we're seeing a lot more game developers investing in the K 12 scene, and I think as K 12 esports grows, it's going to feed really well into collegiate, and then we're going to see even more growth on the pro scene as well.
So it's exciting. What do you see about the future for eSports on the UT Tyler campus specifically?
I think we have a long way to go still, but I think good things are awaiting. Last spring our Valorant team won a regional championship title. They went to playoffs. They won, they had a undefeated season, it was insane, they, uh, only dropped one game out of a match, so there's like three games in a match, uh, they only dropped one game during playoffs, uh, and aside from that, they had a perfect season, it was a crazy sweep, uh, and our Smash Ultimate team had a National Suite 16, so they were in the top 16 schools nationwide in the NACE program, which is like 500 plus schools or something crazy like that right now.
That's awesome. That's really good to hear. Is there anything else that you would like to add about esports that you think people should know?
Definitely, uh, don't underestimate the requirements to get involved. We have so many ways for anyone interested in gaming or passionate about esports to get involved.
We have our varsity level teams, of course, but we also have our recreational teams, our community discord, we have a content team, we have an events team, we have a social chapter called the Game-Hers, which is cool, it's just an inclusive space for women in gaming, um, And if you are interested. Just contact me at adaniel@uttyler.Edu or esports@uttyler.edu and you can also check out our website uttyler.edu/esports.
Alrighty, well thank you so much for your time.