USF WELCOMES ESPORTS By: Cosme Lozano Staff Writer Over the course of the past decade or so, gaming has become a true staple in the entertainment world. Long gone are the days of gaming being frowned upon and looked at as a waste of time. Gaming influencers like Ninja, Nickmercs, FaZe Clan and others, have shown the world how special gaming can truly be. With the rapid growth of gaming, it has spawned a new esports team here at University of St. Francis (USF). Having had the privilege to talk with the team's organizer, Steve Wettergren, I was able to better understand how competitive gaming arrived on campus. One of the first questions that arise when looking at this situation, is how discussions even began. Speaking with Mr. Wettergren, he was able to give me great background context into how we got here: “Esports has been talked about at the university for some time. During the peak of the pandemic, the conversations became more serious because it was one of the few collegiate activities that could still be done safely. In May/June 2021 the concept became a reality, and the university made this one of its strategic initiatives.” Additionally, Mr. Wettergren wanted to build an equal opportunity environment for any students involved. Here, they can learn to develop communication, teamwork and leadership skills; skills that you need while on the sticks and in real life.
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October 28, 2021
In dealing with the pandemic and what we experienced last year, it has meant that more products are on backorder or delayed. This was a problem our esports team faced early on. Mr. Wettergren spoke on this saying, “Then we ordered the equipment and we thought that computers would be backordered. Instead, those arrived rather quickly, and it was furniture that was delayed.” Fortunately, those problems have been resolved and they are focused on making the finishing touches to the technology side. For year one of the team, they will be competing in Overwatch and Rocket League. These are two of the largest gaming titles on the market right now and have established pro and collegiate scenes. There is a chance that Nintendo’s Smash Bros. series will make an appearance, but for now it is not a mainstay. Expansion is something that will be happening as the team looks to potentially add Valorant for FPS fans, and sports titles like Madden or FIFA. Expectations for the first year of the team are high, but the team knows that hard work and good chemistry are necessary to get to where they want to go. Mr. Wettergren shared with me his expectations for year one, by saying, “My goal this year is to develop a team that can compete in varsity level competitions and win. Simple as that. To get to that level there is a lot to do. We first have to establish a team and develop at least two squads for each game title.
