After a successful inaugural season, ETSU announced at a virtual news conference Jan. 19 that Rocket League will join Overwatch and League of Legends as a part of the esports program.
“Students and fans have not stopped asking if we could launch a Rocket League program,” said ETSU Chief Information Officer Karen King.
Rocket League removes humans from the soccer field and replaces them with rocket-powered vehicles. The game quickly gained momentum when it released in 2015 and became one of the first games to allow cross-platform play, which enables players on PC’s and different consoles to play together.
The game became free-to-play in September 2020, and soon thereafter reached over a million concurrent players.
“One of the really great draws of Rocket League is that it offers people who maybe know a lot about traditional athletics, but not a lot about esports, a very approachable way to start interacting with our team and learning about our program,” said ETSU’s esports head coach, Jeff Shell.
Shell saw success in the programs in his first year. He coached the Overwatch team to an 8-1 overall record and a berth in the National Association of Collegiate Esports playoffs, reaching the round of 16.
King reflected on the hurdles cleared in ETSU esports’ first season.
“Having an esports team was a big dream of many of our students,” King said. “Despite a global pandemic, the creation of an esports team would happen.”
ETSU President Brian Noland spoke about the engagement and success of the esports program so far.
“The presence of esports draws students to our campus that may never have heard of East Tennessee State University before,” said Noland. “Being part of the team is a part is a way for our students to engage with our campus to build friendships and to build lasting relationships at the university. That’s what our esports program has already done, thanks to the leadership of Coach Shell.”
As the season gets underway for the League of Legends team, the games will be available to stream at twitch.tv/etsuesports.
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