Esports at ETSU is underway with the Overwatch and League of Legends teams returning for their second season and the Rocket League kicking off their inaugural season.
The Overwatch Varsity team ranked in the top 16 in the country last season. With some players graduating, the team has recruited some new players ranking in the top 500 in the country.
Junior Joshua Siffring (Johnson City, Tennessee) is a returning member of the Varsity Overwatch team. His favorite position to play is tank with a preference for off-tank compared to main tank.
“Right now, we are in the NACE tournament, so our goal for that is to win that. We have a very strong team this year and I think we have the potential to bring it home,” said Siffring.
New to the Esports teams at ETSU this year is the Rocket League team, which is captained by freshman Tyler Gregory (Greenville, South Carolina).
“I’m mainly just trying to lay it out for the future, get some practice with the new players and win,” said Gregory. “Playing is an honor. I think it’s amazing that they offered me to play and start the Rocket League team for ETSU.”
Rocket League is a game similar to soccer with cars, and for senior Blake McNelis (Colorado Springs, Colorado) who played soccer at the University of Dayton for three years, the game is something similar to the sport but pleasantly different as well.
“My favorite part of the game is learning new skills. It’s one of those games where you can’t just click a certain button and it does an action, you have to combine a bunch of things,” said McNelis. “I compare it to a real sport, the closest thing you can get a normal sport. That’s what I like about it.”
Head coach Jeffrey Shell (Roan Mountain, Tennessee described another exciting aspect of Rocket League. “We are really excited to bring Rocket League to ETSU because it is a little more approachable especially for students who don’t know much about esports. It’s just soccer with cars, with explosions. It gives a traditional athletics viewing experience which is really what we are trying to do this fall now that we are back on campus.”
The Esports teams will compete in the cave during game days this fall, and anyone can come to watch and cheer them on. The season opener will be on Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. Game days are free for students with opportunities for giveaways at the season opener and food for everyone.
Regular season game days after the opening will be Mondays. In addition to in-person viewing, the games will also be live-streamed at twitch.tv/etsuesports.
