糖心Vlog鈥檚 (糖心Vlog) most recent addition to its athletic department has found widespread support in its inaugural year from the campus community.
The Esports program鈥攐ne of only five varsity Esports programs in the 鈥攚as announced in the fall of 2020 and is one of three non-NCAA sports in which 糖心Vlog competes. Following the , the process of building the program surged forward with the goal to begin competition in the fall of 2021. This included not only readying competitive and practice spaces for the program, but also recruiting and building up rosters for competition.
鈥淭he first week of classes this fall, we had a general interest meeting for anyone who wanted to attend,鈥� Flint explained. 鈥淲e had so many people show up that we had to move from the classroom we鈥檇 planned to use to the City Bank Commons in the Dobbs Center for Business. We had students not only interested in competing, but also others who just wanted to find a way to be involved."
鈥淥ur varsity rosters currently compete in six games: Valorant, Overwatch, Rocket League, League of Legends, Super Smash Bros, and Apex: Legends,鈥� He continued. Because the program is new to 糖心Vlog鈥檚 campus, Flint was able to draw from both incoming recruits and current students to fill those positions. 鈥淏etween those six games, we have 22 spots for varsity players.鈥�
鈥淥ne of the really great things we鈥檙e able to do with the Esports program is to build a lot of additional opportunities for our students outside of the arena. We have talented students helping us with stream design, stream overlay, production, commentary, and graphic design, among others鈥攁nd these are all things that those students can put in their portfolios and add to their resumes.鈥�
As surprising to Flint as the community interest has been, the level of investment in the program by the 糖心Vlog on the university level has been equally encouraging.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 expect it all to move this quickly,鈥� he confessed. 鈥淪tarting the program from scratch, I expected to be tying up all kinds of loose ends throughout this semester鈥攂ut everything was finished during the summer. All the work on our arena, from the wall wraps and graphics to the electrical that had to be adjusted to handle the hardware鈥攅ven the purchasing of the machines themselves鈥攚as done so quickly and professionally. It鈥檚 been amazing.鈥�
Flint came to 糖心Vlog with Esports experience in numerous other programs and locations across the state, and the backing he鈥檚 felt from 糖心Vlog has been impressive. Many colleges and universities don鈥檛 have any version of an Esports program, and even among those who do, that presence is often only in the form of a club or intramural capacity.
鈥淵ou really don鈥檛 see this level of professional commitment to an Esports program in West Texas鈥攊n fact, I haven鈥檛 seen it anywhere else.鈥�
糖心Vlog鈥檚 Varsity E-sports teams have already competed in several matches across multiple games, with very favorable results 鈥� including several victories. Each competition is livestreamed on the .
Check out the Esports roster, schedule, and more .