Esports has been on a roll during their inaugural seasons of the Overwatch and League of Legends teams at ETSU.
Senior Ashe Greenberg (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) kicked off the Overwatch team as their founding captain.
The fall season proved to be a successful one with the team taking an 8-1 finish in their regular season, moving onto the National Association of Collegiate Esports playoffs, where they placed in the final 16.
“I was really excited; I didn’t know at first how well we’d end up doing within the season and the playoffs,” Greenberg said. “But the fact that we not only made it to the top-16, but the people who got us out was actually the team that won the entire playoffs. That felt very, very nice and I was really proud of my teammates for just how far we got.”
The team faced their fair share of challenges during the spring season, but in the end, they had a lot of fun, Greenberg said.
The upcoming 2021-2022 season the team will be captained by Greenberg for her second year.
“We still need to decide on who all is playing on the team for the fall season, and then we are really going to make sure we work on our team communication overall,” Greenberg said. “Being able to like call out things to your teammates, just saying I’m going to do this or I’m going to do that before you actually do it.”
Greenberg, a biology major, plans on graduating in the winter. When asked if there was something she wished she could tell people about esports, she explained the joyous and competitive nature of the sport.
“It’s something that gives you an opportunity to play something you enjoy, but at a competitive level,” Greenberg said. “Not only are there scholarships available, but you get to play in a competitive team environment which is completely different in my opinion, but better and more organized than normal play. It’s just overall really fun and a great experience.”
Sophomore Lucca Weber (Ennepetal, Germany) is the founding captain of the League of Legends team.
In the fall season, the League of Legends team worked on pre-tournament gaming, and their official season started in January.
“We performed all right, but not the best,” Weber said, reflecting on the spring. “I’d say one of the highlights was just to get started to play from the new awesome training center. We did also go 4-2 in the regular season, so we beat out some teams that have already kind of made a name for themselves.”
Weber will be captain of the League of Legends team in the 2021-22 season for his second year as well.
“Our goals for next season is definitely to reach playoffs,” Weber said. “Honestly, my goal is to go 6-0 in the season and not to lose a single game. I know that would be pretty fantastic, and just get better together as a group.”
Building a community and teamwork are things Weber mentioned when asked what he wished he could tell people about esports.
“If you like playing a game and you want to get better, then watching or participating in esports can definitely help you,” Weber said. “It’s also about having a community of people who like to do this together and people who get together and grab food to watch games. It’s basically like watching football and basketball, it’s just great fun.”
For the 2021-22 season, incoming freshman Tyler Gregory (Greeneville, South Carolina) will be the inaugural captain of the Rocket League team in their first season at ETSU. Gregory is a Supersonic Legend rank in the game, which is the highest rank a player is able to attain.
The Rocket League team is still in the process of recruiting, and plans to begin competition this fall.
