Students are leaning toward the monitors, laser-focused. Their fingers move like striking snakes on their keyboards. Though they are in a small, tightly knit room, they still shout at each other like people in the New York Stock Exchange. It’s all fun and games, though. This is just regular bantering among the players of the eSports team at the University of Texas at Tyler.
“A lot of people don’t think of Tyler, Texas, as having a lot of gaming talent,” said Ashley Daniel, the eSports Club director.
The other side of the program is the eSports Collegiate Management Team. ‘They are amazing. We wouldn’t be able to run without them, ” Daniel said. “So, with our ECMT, we have directors for each game, like ‘Valorant,’ ‘Overwatch,’ all that good stuff. And they help run pretty much every facet of the program, which I think is just amazing because I know in traditional sports a lot of growth and development happens there, but in eSports, there’s a greater opportunity for personal growth because of the hands-on nature of it.”
As for Daniel, she wants people to tell everyone here about eSports, if they’re passionate about it. “Tell everyone you know how much you love eSports,” Daniel said. “Tell your faculty. Tell the president. Tell your dean of your building. Tell anyone. Get the word out that you want to see eSports here.”
Want to find out more about eSports? Check out their website to find out more!
