By Lauren Felts, Advertisement Manager
Saint Leo University is constantly adding new opportunities for students to grow and enjoy their time spent here on campus. Recently, Saint Leo opened up an esports arena to add to the fun.
The arena opened this past spring in March 2021. Stationed in apartment building 5, the arena’s growing success can be credited to Saint Leo President, Jeffrey Senese, faculty, and the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) who worked long and hard to make the arena happen.
For those who are unfamiliar, what exactly is esports? Esports is a multiplayer form of competition between professional video gamers. According to Omar Cosme, interim coach for the Saint Leo Esports team, the esports arena serves as a dedicated space for the university team.
“It is a space dedicated to competitive gaming and home to our official Saint Leo University Esports team,” said Cosme. “It features state-of-the-art PC gaming hardware, Nintendo Switches, and streaming capabilities.”
Additionally, it will be available very soon for non-players or non-team members to be included and join in as well, said Dr. Jen Shaw, vice president of student affairs at Saint Leo.
The arena includes twelve different state-of-the-art gaming stations, equipped with computers, gaming tables, and chairs. The games that are played include Super Mario Smash Bros., League of Legends, Rocket League, Super Smash, and the newest addition, Overwatch. These gaming programs are readily installed on the computers for team members to play.
“The computers are capable of running any Microsoft Windows compatible video game currently available to the public and is future-proof for the most anticipated titles,” said Cosme.
Due to President Senese’s vision, the esports team was designed to promote an innovative and engaging team for the esports community to enjoy right here on campus. Fortunately for the university, enough faculty were able to come together to make the dream become a reality and enough students were able to express their excitement. They were also able to get more students aware of the opportunity by showing up to this year’s involvement fair.
“Along with other campus partners, the excitement was ignited, a strategy was enacted, and the space was outfitted with some of the best equipment in the industry,” said Cosme.
For students who are interested in joining the esports team, try-out dates and other relevant information are all listed on the esports website. Additionally, students can visit the center themselves on campus to talk to a team member in person. Each try-out is specific to the game each student decides they want to play. As far as the season goes, each season is structured specifically to the game played according to the collegiate league.
According to Cosme, the esports team will soon be sending out notifications for all upcoming events and tournaments, some even including exclusive prizes and giveaways.
For students who have questions that are not listed on the website, Cosme said that they are free to reach out anytime through email. Furthermore, the university will be hosting community events to further improve the center. They are committed to listening to students’ feedback, as well as adding in any games of interest for future semesters.
Cosme also highlighted that streaming will be available for Twitch users: “Fans will enjoy streams and casts via Twitch and other platforms from our new content management team,” said Cosme. “More information on these new team members is incoming.”
With Saint Leo’s vast connection within the esports community, Shaw looks forward to extending more mentorship programs and resources to the surrounding Saint Leo community.
“In addition to hosting and traveling to competitions, we will continue to mentor a middle school team, host camps for kids, host gaming tournaments for all students, and connect with esports companies to make career connections for students,” said Shaw.
For students who are unsure of the opportunities offered by joining the team, there are plenty of chances to gain amazing connections with other students who share the same interests. Additionally, the esports team offers an array of career opportunities within the gaming field. Saint Leo has done everything they can to provide students with a center that has not only the best equipment and resources, but room for opportunity.
