The Mental Game
Breaking stereotypes and finding an accepting, open environment in the gaming world
WORDS BY
Ray Padilla
PHOTOS BY
Jacob Golden, Olivia Seidel & Ray Padilla HIDDEN ROOM
J
unior Cody Minnick joins another student in the library room — each bringing their own controller and headset. They connect through the application Discord and load up the vehicle soccer game “Rocket League” to add an additional player. Meanwhile, Minnick connects to the group’s Twitch channel and began streaming — beginning their practice. The practice took place in the basement floor of the Kent Library. There, I met Cody to interview him about the program in a small room with no cell service. This room houses six monitors, keyboards, mice and desktops. After the interview, he sat down at one of the computers and began playing. Nowhere on the stream are the names Cody Minnick. Instead, listed above the cars were MinnickToWinIt (Minnick), ChrisWithaK
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(Holliday) and Rubik (freshman Wesley Miller). These three are players for Kent State’s esports’ “Rocket League” team. MinnickToWinIt and ChrisWithaK are among four students on the varsity team for the game. In May, Kent State offered a community tournament featuring teams from the University of Akron, Bowling Green University and surrounding high schools — starting the esports program for the school. Since then, it has boomed with popularity and features four different varsity teams; “League of Legends,” “Hearthstone,” “Rocket League” and “Overwatch.” This semester is the first for Kent State esports. Currently, there are over 80 varsity esports programs across the country according to ESPN. Kent State has yet to be listed with
these universities. The varsity collegiate esports programs began at Robert Morris University in Illinois in 2014, and now esports programs have popped up regularly as interest levels have spiked. “We are still working out some of the small pieces, but I’m not worried at all,” Steve Toepfer, the director for the esports program at Kent State, says. “We have a lot of student passion and interest. We have a staff in place and this is going to be a good year.” As new esports programs emerge, opinions of the sport come along with them. Some people believe it’s not a sport at all because of the little physical activity needed. There’s still little we know about the effects it has on the players involved. In the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, where
