×

KSU campus introduces Thunderbirds Esports team

Video game competition

Anthony Rossi, 20, of Champion, a Kent State Trumbull student and a member of the Kent State Trumbull Thunderbirds Esports team, competes in a game during the kick off of its season Monday. Photo by R. Michael Semple

WARREN — The Kent State Trumbull Thunderbirds Esports team was introduced on Monday, a few days ahead of the Hearthstone collegiate season that starts next week and allows students to win scholarship money and other prizes.

Esports is a video game competition that many colleges are starting to do, coach Mike Pozega said. The players use team skills, social skills and strategies to beat other colleges at the same video games, he said.

There are 20 active varsity players on the Esports team. It’s an opportunity to get kids involved who would rather play video games than play a sport, Pozega said.

Most of the competitions take place online because the teams they compete against are located throughout the country, Pozega said. More than 125 Esports programs can be found on college campuses

The interest for having an Esports team at KSU Trumbull came after the Salem campus got one, said Dr. Lance Grahn, dean and chief administrative officer.

“It’s new and exciting,” Grahn said. “It’s something that I am learning about. Until a year ago, I honestly had no idea that Esports — competitive gaming — was a worldwide phenomenon. It’s exciting for the Kent State Trumbull campus to be part of this.”

Grahn said once the Salem campus got a team, it quickly spread to the other campuses.

Teams like this give students the opportunity to be involved with something they already have the skills and passion for and add value and energy to the campus, Grahn said.

For Zachary Blythe, 18, of Howland, it gives him the chance to do something he’s grown up doing. Blythe said he likes that he gets to play on a team with people he knows.

Blythe likes to play Overwatch, a game that is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game.

“It’s the fact that I’ve never really had a team of people that I actually knew,” said Blythe. “I think that’s the difference between Call of Duty and all that where you’re playing alone. When you’re playing with people you know, you get to know their strenghts and weakness and get to play off that.”

It also allows them to develop their skills and knowledge while playing with people who have the same passions, Blythe said.

“I read somewhere that some games build brain power and it makes you smarter,” Blythe said.

Anthony Rossi, 20, of Champion, said offering Esports is a good idea because it allows people who can’t compete at physical sports to compete at something.

Rossi enjoys playing both Overwatch and Heartstone. Heartstone is a digital collectible card game.

“They’re both very strategic,” Rossi said. “Overwatch puts a lot of focus on working together and putting a lot of stragerty on getting the upper hand on the other team.”

Pozega said Esports works like any other sport — there’s a regular season and there are divisions. This will be the second semester that KSU has had an Esports team and the first semester they are competing against other colleges.

Students also have the chance to compete for scholarship money, and the winner of this season’s competitions could get a $5,000 scholarship, Pozega said.

The season runs Feb. 18 to April 2.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
     

Starting at $4.85/week.

Subscribe Today