Esports at St. Cloud State has had an eventful Fall so far. The dedication to competition is palpable among our players. Rocket League, Smash, and Valorant have had weekly matches at the collegiate level throughout the semester; thankfully, they’ve been doing pretty well.
Competition
Starting with Rocket League, we had a fairly tough start in NACE. Back-to-back losses in September certainly affected morale but the next 3 games were all decisive wins. Turning around in this manner, it seems the players have already learned a lot about what it takes to win. This brings Rocket League to a 3-2 record in NACE. In NECC, they have been dominating with a 4-0 record. Clearly, Rocket League has made an impressive splash.
The Rocket League team consists of 4 players. Let me introduce you, gamertag in parenthesis: there’s Evan (22POWER22), Devin (Strate-), Calvin (CaptunCatLOL), and Ryan (Spoooks). If you tune into the SCSU stream, you can watch these players excelling at their craft; at times with an astonishing level of finesse. Behind every match is Coach Kylander who’s quick to offer a fistbump between every goal scored – even when it’s the opponent finding our net.
Similarly, our Smash Bros team has been dominating. Keep in mind, this is the first semester SCSU Esports has supported an academy Smash Bros team. This support is a direct result of having such an active club which earned a place through our coalition program. Despite the newer status, the academy Smash team has a record of 5-1 in NACE and according to Coach Cam, it is ‘extremely likely’ the team will make it to the postseason.
The Smash team consists of 4 players. Let me acquaint you with them: Noah (SULRoY), Jack (Juneau), Sam (The Legend), and Riley (McNutty). All of these players are involved in the weekly Smash Tournament called Breakaway. Every Monday this semester, the Smash Club runs this tournament as a fun, community-building event for players and students. Breakaway happens right next to the NACE Rocket League matches in the Esports Arena. It’s an endearing atmosphere; competitors of both games can be heard cheering each other on with each win.
Also on Mondays, the academy Valorant team competes in NECC on PCs in the Esports Gaming Lounge. According to the Club President, Valorant has 30 members in their discord, with 10 regular players attending meetings. The New Act Iso was apparently a big moment with more players showing up to practice to share in the new content. In the Midwest A bracket, they have a record of 1-3.
Both the academy Smash and Rocket League teams competed on October 21st at RockTheLan, an invitational sponsored by Rockstar Energy. The Smash team took 1st place – awarding them $1,000 dollars – and the Rocket League team took 5th. Our school had never attended RockTheLan. which was held at Mankato State University and yet, the Huskies’ presence was unavoidable for the almost two dozen schools in attendance. This was a major development in our competitive prowess, and we’re just getting started.
Careers
Careers in esports require more than you might suspect. While many decide to learn about the competitive space in esports, students need chances to look behind the curtain and see how every piece functions. SCSU hopes to offer that; this Fall, we saw multiple interesting events for aspiring esports professionals.
On September 21st, the University Television Studio (UTVS) ran ‘Be The Broadcaster’ which provided students with the opportunity to learn about the world of broadcasting. Esports was included in this event, which saw students sitting at the commentary booth in the Esports Arena and learning how our weekly broadcasts are run. We rely on the talent of UTVS to ensure a fun yet informative match each week for all interested.
Weekly broadcasts like ours rely on people with game knowledge sufficient to guide the viewer through what’s happening. We open this opportunity up to any interested students. One commentator, Davin Novak (Mass Comm) was willing to chat about how commentary has been going so far:
“Commentary for the esports program has been getting better and better as we learn what gets people to enjoy the broadcast and how we can include emotion into the words we say. Esports casting is something I’ve been a fan of for many years and it reinforces my desire to become a Mass Comm major and create media based around ideas that seem interesting to not only me but, other people as well.”
Esports staff on campus (coach, team manager, recruitment lead, and graphic designer) had the opportunity on October 27th to attend the Exploring Potential Interest & Careers (EPIC) event. This event had many students like Davin who were interested in Esports and wanted ways to get involved. Over 160 students stopped by SCSU’s booth at the event to play games and chat about careers. These are students from around the St. Cloud area who could potentially enroll and be a part of the esports program.
Community
October 2nd to the 6th saw Homecoming editions of our weekly Esports events. This was a good opportunity for esports to show our school spirit and get involved as a department. For homecoming, we also competed in the Office Decoration Contest with our officemates in Educational Technology Innovations (ETI) against all departments across campus. We went with a Mario theme using a Switch connected to an augmented reality Mario track, paper cutouts of Nintendo characters and ETI Director Chris Stanley decided to dress up as Mario. Our office didn’t win the contest, but our office certainly embraced the homecoming spirit.
The Esports Department partnered with the SCSU Drag Troupe on October 19th to host a drag show in the Esports Arena. This was a theatrical Halloween event showing off the costume-making and dancing skills of the drag troupe. At least 30 students were in attendance, cheering for the energetic acts. This was a meaningful step toward collaborating with the Drag Troupe in the future. In previous years, the troupe hosted all their shows in the basement of Atwood; we hope to continue collaboration into the future.
On October 25th, the Esports Content Team ran the inaugural Halloween Esports Event, dubbed “EEK Sports” which had 41 attendees. The Esports Arena was fully decorated beforehand with spooky pictures, plastic skeletons, large paper spiders, and a festive orange light overhead. The initial plan was to play Dead By Daylight and Deceit but, due to networking difficulties, Dead by Daylight was not operational. Thankfully, Deceit ran super well, and people seemed to enjoy it. The event wasn’t just about gaming though, EEK Sports held a costume contest that had almost 20 entrants. Calvin of the Rocket League team won 1st, a Miles Morales costume in 2nd, and a Fairy costume in 3rd. Everyone truly excelled with their costumes.
Recruitment has been a continued priority for our staff. We recruit online through Discord, StayPluggedIn, and contact with the Minnesota Varsity League (MNVL). We also recruit in person through campus initiatives like Mainstreet, Red and Black Days, and physical marketing. All of this is intended to find students who are endemic to the esports community, interested in getting involved in any form. Our recruitment strategy continues to be holistic, providing Competition, Careers, and Community.
Socials
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SCSUesports
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scsuesports/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scsuesports,
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuWvNtvbLZ0DXRdfv0E0_3Q
Email, with any questions! esports@stcloudstate.edu