Esports is a sport too, just like basketball and football, but without the physical activity. However, over the years, it has gained more recognition due to the way it is organized, which leads players to leagues such as Heroes of the Storm, which allow them to compete with different players around the world.
The Bronco Esports club was created in 2011 and has competed and won several matches against other universities.
(Courtesy of Poly Lens)
Throughout the academic year, the club is known for hosting major tournaments like Frag Fest and Gaming Rumbles, which are smaller tournaments that allow members to relax and interact with each other.
In 2018, the club witnessed Heroes of the Storm, one of its teams, reach top four in the country, the biggest accomplishment a CPP Esports team has ever made.
The members of the team originally met while living in dorms their freshman year. They started playing the game together and eventually began participating in collegiate tournaments.
The most significant tournament they participated in was Heroes of the Dorm, a tournament hosted by Tepsa, a North American collegiate Esports company. The company first started hosting the tournament in 2015 and since then, it welcomes around 500 teams from around the country annually.
“The first three years the way brackets were seated, we always ended up, unluckily, playing the people who end up taking first place, early in the bracket,” said Steven Nguyen, a fifth-year computer engineering student.
Even though the team placed top four its final year, in the first three years the team only placed top 32.
“Because of the collegiate tournaments, students eventually graduate, which means being a team that started as freshmen, by the time we got to our fourth year the majority of our competitors graduated. Everyone has to deal with having new members but we still have that whole synergy of the same five people,” Nguyen said.
Despite never winning the tournament, they were able to get laptops as a prize for placing in the top four.
Aside from the success obtained last year by the Heroes of the Storm, this year other teams are also doing well. Such is the case of Counter Strike Global Offensive. That team is currently undefeated 3-0 in the season and has already made the playoffs.
The current roster is burdened with all-new players, aside from team captain Christopher Walch, who is on his third year with the team.
Prior to this year, the team participated in a tournament in Orange County, where it played a professional female team — and despite not winning the match — was able to compete toe-to-toe.
“We all practice once a week together and then we come for the matches. And then I make videos for them to watch on their own to go over on what is going to happen in every single one of the games,” Walch said.
After struggling to stay together last year, the Overwatch team is having one of its best seasons with a 6-2 record.
The team has been around for three years now and aside from this year’s success, it has had most of its success the first year.
As a result, one of its players ranked top 500 in North America.
“A couple of the guys are juniors or sophomores so they will be here for a while. And also, every year, especially with gaining popularity, we will get more players who play the game,” said Joseph Welch, a third-year communication student.
The team currently has a mix of young and veteran players, and its members believe the future is bright for the team, as it is loaded with young players.