One of West Virginia’s first collegiate esports teams won a national championship in December.
One of West Virginia’s first collegiate esports teams won a national championship in December.
In 2019, Concord University was the first public university in the state of West Virginia to develop an esports competition program.
The Concord University Esports Maroon Team, one of 12 teams at the university, won a national championship in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Elite Division.
Austin Clay is the Esports director at Concord University and said the Rocket League match was won with intelligence and planning.
“Because of our research and because we better prepared for the match, and we understood how they played we were able to come out on top and take that victory though, which is why it’s so impressive,” he said.
The team went 7-1 in the ECAC regular season, only losing to Brewton Parker College, of Georgia. In the Grand Finals, the Maroon team played Brewton-Parker College once again, and consisted of Chase Koger, Ethan Tucker and Will Jackson.
Tucker, whose gamer tag, or nickname is “E.T.” is a sophomore who transferred from Brewton Parker College. He is a computer science major at Concord.
Jackson, whose gamer tag is “Pancakes” is a senior who has been playing for concord since the founding year of Rocket League in the fall of 2022 and is finishing his bachelor’s degree in computer science. Jackson is the captain of the team.
Koger, whose gamer tag is “Helix” is a freshman and the only in-state player for the varsity Rocket League team from the town of Iager in McDowell County. Koger is also pursuing a computer science degree.
Clay said he is not only proud of the team for their win, but their academic achievements as well.
“From an academic standpoint, our three players that play on that roster had an average GPA of 3.31,” Clay said. “So they are really intelligent, while also competing.”
Esports have exploded in popularity as a spectator sport in recent years, but barriers to access, primarily gender discrimination and cost, have kept many from competing in the games they love to watch and play.
The audio above originally aired in the May 31, 2023 episode of West Virginia Morning. WVPB reporter Chris Schulz spoke with student Gabriella Boal to discuss this story.
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Alexa Rummel, captain of the Rainbow Six Siege team for West Virginia University’s (WVU) Collegiate Gaming Club, sits down to play at her PC, alone in her room, and worries that she will be scrutinized for how she sounds. There are only four female-identifying players across all the varsity esports teams on the campuses in the WVU system.
None of them are on the main campus’s varsity teams.
Esports are competitive, multiplayer video games played at a high level. They have exploded in popularity as a spectator sport in recent years. But barriers to access, primarily gender discrimination and cost, have kept many from competing in the games they love to watch and play.
Women In Esports Gaming
Because esports and digital gaming occur online, players are just names on a screen. Their identities are hidden unless they choose to reveal them by showing their faces or speaking into a microphone. Discrimination or bigotry should not be a big problem for gamers, but women report a fear of revealing their identities because of ridicule and harassment when they attempt to communicate with others during games. According to a study from the website FandomSpot, 93 percent of women who have disguised their gender online do so because they have been sexually harassed while gaming.
Rummel said her experiences prior to joining the WVU team were “incredibly toxic” and demoralizing. When asked about the difference she feels when playing Rainbow Six Siege with the team versus on her own, she said it’s a lot more civil.
“Siege ranked can be incredibly toxic and demoralizing if you’re not playing with your friends,” she said. “It’s a great game when you’re having fun and when you’re with a group of friends, but being alone with strangers is nothing compared to being in a squad let alone doing competitive.”
When Rummel is playing the game solo, she avoids using her microphone to avoid harassment from other players.
“It’s hard trying to join a private (non-collegiate) team as a woman in Siege, I think. I’ve been turned away just because they found out I was a girl. I’d do better than half of their current roster and still get turned away,” Rummel said.
Women’s experiences in gaming circles have been subpar overall, even though there are nearly equal numbers of men and women in gaming. Women in Games Argentina, a network for women in gaming, conducted an experiment online where male players used voice modifiers to sound as if they were female players in order to gauge the reactions from the other players on the team. The experiment was called “#SwitchVoices,” and professional male players noted a significant difference in the way they were being treated after turning on a voice modifier. They were met with aggressive verbal harassment.
This is common for women playing open-mic varieties of games like Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, Call of Duty, among others, where players in the game are able to freely speak to each other if they wish.
According to a study by Nicholas Taylor and Bryce Stout from North Carolina State University, club-level esports teams are doing invaluable work towards diversity and inclusion in esports, especially teams that have female-identifying leaders. However, that representation is lacking at the varsity-collegiate level. While the club level of esports on WVU’s main campus has representation, the varsity-collegiate level of the sport on the campus is falling short.
There are two transgender female players on the WVU Keyser Campus, and two female players on the WVU Tech campus, but there are no women on the esports team at the main West Virginia University campus in Morgantown. The recruitment process for the Morgantown team is not readily available online, nor is the official roster for the team.
In contrast, the two other campuses have their recruitment questionnaires readily available online.
Erin Burns, Logan Riggleman, Connor Nichols, Shawn Baker and Rebecca Scott form the WVU Potomac State esports Valorant team.
Rebecca Scott, a WVU Potomac State esports Valorant player, believes that diversity and inclusion in gaming will come from the leadership at the top.
“I think until we see more equality and more female representation at the executive level, at the decision-making level that we may not see those changes,” she said. The executive level are the major teams and corporations featured in events like VALORANT’s Champions Tour as well as companies like Team SoloMid, 100 Thieves and Team Liquid.
Rummel has personal experience with being looked over simply because of her gender.
“It’s hard trying to join a private (non-collegiate) team as a woman in [Rainbow Six] Siege,” she said. “I’ve been turned away just because they found out I was a girl. I’d do better than half of their current roster and still get turned away.”
While the number of women in the gaming industry is nearly equal to the number of men, there are few that succeed at the professional level of esports. Dota 2 is the top-earning competitive game for esports. It is a five-versus-five team game, and players have won $235,000,000 since its release, but only 0.002 percent ($6,300) has gone to women.
The website “Esports Earnings” shows that there are no women in the top 400 esports earners. A trans female player named Sasha Hostyn was the top female esports earner, coming in 452nd place worldwide for the game Starcraft, a single-player game. The next female player on the list was ranked 1010th in earnings worldwide.
No women have ever won the biggest prizes or trophies for any esport. Currently, no women are competing in the championships that are considered the “biggest.” For example, Valorant Champions is the largest championship for Valorant players, but women have yet to appear there. There is a completely separate championship titled “Game Changers” that only features teams made up of women and marginalized players.
“Women in esports are not present enough, and men are always harassing them. This makes them not want to play the game,” Angel Garcia said.
Garcia competes at the intercollegiate varsity level on the esports team on the WVU’s Morgantown campus. He noted that college sports that get funding do so because they comply with Title IX, so esports teams on campus are likely to continue at the club level unless things change.
“It can only grow so much with only men, and that is why it hasn’t gone to that next level because there aren’t enough women involved. Women are the missing link in securing the future growth of college esports,” he said.
Until the reaction to a woman using her microphone in-game changes for the better, overall representation will not change.
Pay To Play
As Garcia sits down to play Valorant, he is aware that he is the only person of color in the room. He knows from experience that economic disadvantages play a role in the lack of diversity in esports.
Though gender wasn’t a barrier to entry for Garcia, affordability was. His first console was an Xbox One, an affordable option to get started in esports. Depending on the game in which players compete, gaming setups can be very expensive. The average price of a gaming console can be between $300-$500, and if the game requires a desktop computer (PC), that could have players shelling out thousands of dollars to be able to handle modern games.
Just like a sports car is faster than a minivan, a high end PC will be faster than your average home computer used for typing emails. Esports athletes require top performing PCs to have the best advantage against their opponents. If they play a game with a new release every year, such as EA Sports’ Madden franchise, it could cost $60-$70 every year to stay up to date.
From a competitive standpoint, outdated games are worthless since almost all of the playerbase migrates to the new game. Some competitive games can be free to play, which means it costs nothing to download the game and play. But for these games, better services may be locked behind a paywall which can prevent players without the means to upgrade from having a chance to play at higher levels.
“The main diversity I saw in gaming was really the privilege differences when it comes to having a good set up,” Garcia said.
In Morgantown, WVU game design professor Heather Cole launched a nonprofit organization, MonRiverGames, to be an equalizer by giving access to the game design world. She wants to create a space where disenfranchised groups can experience game creation and the industry on a smaller scale. The hope is to make the space affordable and very accessible to people who maybe can’t experience the large gaming community in their beginning stages of gaming.
“I built this as a launch board or ‘starter’ studio for students and early career professionals. I wanted to make an opportunity exist that our area currently lacks,” Cole said.
If the organization does what she hopes, it will keep students in the state of West Virginia.
“Hopefully, with time and our support, independent game studios in the region will grow,” Cole said.
MonRiverGames is an organization that is trying to solve two problems at once: getting more women involved with gaming, and making it accessible to people who might not have the funds to break into the gaming industry.
The Future Of Collegiate Esports
Esports has been around since the 1970s but has expanded exponentially since 2010. Unlike traditional collegiate sports, which are governed by the NCAA, collegiate esports have no governing body that would advocate for diversity and equality.
The West Virginia University Morgantown Campus esports program is wrapping up its first full year with teams for Rocket League, Valorant and NFL Madden. The current state of the state’s varsity university teams, while having some representation and diversity, suffers in comparison to the club teams at those same institutions. Some collegiate esport teams branch out and add games that have a more gender diverse playerbase once they establish their program and start to grow.
The University of South Carolina-Sumter’s esports program began with an all-male roster in 2015, but when the team added “Overwatch” to its competitive games, its diversity rate became 50-50. The school now has one of the only programs in the United States that has an even split in its esports programs.
Josh Steger, director of Esports at West Virginia University, has said he has plans to make a women’s team, but there is nothing in development as of now.
Esports are competitive, multiplayer video games played at a high level. They’ve grown in popularity as a spectator sport through online streaming.
Concord University in Athens is hosting a summer camp that aims to create more interest in its esports programs. It’s the second annual such event.
Esports are competitive, multiplayer video games played at a high level. They have grown in popularity as a spectator sport through online streaming.
Concord created its varsity esports program in 2019 as the first of its kind in the state. That came alongside the creation of an Esports Management major.
“The big thing for us is getting West Virginia on the map,” University Esports Director Austin Clay said in a 2021 interview. “It’s nice to know that even a small college with only 2,000 kids attending can get nationally recognized.”
The summer camp is set to teach local students lessons in sportsmanship, teamwork, communication and leadership through competition in video games like Fortnite, Overwatch, Rocket League and Super Smash Bros. A tournament for the recently released Overwatch 2 is also scheduled on the last day of camp.
The camp also includes speakers involved in professional esports and time for outdoor play.
A camp for younger kids aged 9 to 13 is scheduled from June 19-23, while a camp for those aged 14 to 18 is scheduled from June 28-30. The cost to attend is $225. Those interested in registering can do so onlineor email jsrose@concord.edu or akclay@concord.edu for more information.
Across the state, college campuses are taking an interest in competitive video gaming. Better known as esports, these competitions require strategic thinking, excellent hand-eye coordination, and team cooperation.
Professional level competitions have steadily grown alongside video games, but didn’t find serious financial backing until the past decade. Video game publishers, corporations, Silicon Valley giants, sponsors, and international leagues started investing in the industry as it grew in popularity. In the Internet age, esports have become a huge spectator draw with millions of viewers, and many colleges are building their own programs and varsity teams.
One such program is gaining relevance at Concord University, led by esports director Austin Clay. Concord’s esports program has grown to include multiple teams that specialize in different genres of games, from fighters that focus on individual competition like Super Smash Bros. to cooperative team shooters like Apex Legends and Call of Duty.
“My big thing a lot of people don’t realize — when people say esport, they think it’s just one game. It’s esports with an S,” Clay said.
In 2014, esports broke through to college campuses when Robert Morris University in Illinois formed the first varsity esports program and provided scholarships. Today there are almost 200 varsity esports programs around the nation.
In fall of 2019, Concord University became the first public institution in West Virginia to have a varsity and junior varsity esports program, as well as a new interdisciplinary esports management major. The major itself includes several study areas from within the esports field, from multimedia production to graphic design.
As the esports director at Concord, Clay teaches esports management classes at the school. He is responsible for sponsorships, recruiting, and facility upgrades, among other duties that are traditionally handled by a school’s athletic director.
“As collegiate esports evolve from being on a club-level to a varsity-level, you’re gonna see a rise in professionalism,” Clay said. “You’re just gonna see better, more organized, well-ran teams, which means competition is gonna be higher.”
Clay says his esports players usually earn an extra $2,000 to $4,000 in scholarship money on top of their existing academic scholarships.
“The big thing for us is getting West Virginia on the map,” Clay said. “It’s nice to know that even a small college with only 2,000 kids attending can get nationally recognized.”
Austin Clay
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Concord University esports player Liam Fogarty
Marshall and WVU are taking a cue from Concord and getting in on the esports boom. Many gamers from around the state are enthusiastic about this, including Artem Gavrilev, former esports captain at WVU.
“I am pretty excited to see schools open up esports majors or even scholarships sometimes,” he said. “Fifteen years from now, every school is gonna have an esports wing… I think that’s the future.”
Last Thursday, WVU announced an esports minor alongside a full-fledged esports team.
Marshall University is also developing its own esports program. The Marshall Esports Club Association is a growing student organization with around 410 members.
Caleb Patrick, executive director of the Marshall Esports Club Association, says that WVU’s announcement of its esport minor is a promising sign for the future of esports in the state.
“This has fanned the flames of our motivation, and inspired us to push even harder towards creating a program that’s unrivaled in terms of community, production efforts and quality, and pure competitive prowess,” he said.
Kevin Bryant, the competitive affairs manager for Marshall esports, said that esports is an equalizing competition for different size universities.
“It doesn’t matter what size school you are, it doesn’t matter your resources or capabilities,” Bryant said. “It really is a wild wild west of who can put in that more effort and who can want it more.”
Bryant sees esports as an opportunity for West Virginia to develop competitive in-state rivalries that have been absent in traditional college sports. “It’s been a long time since West Virginia has been given its proper rivalry. That’s left WVU to go on to make sure that their top 25 was secured in football every year,” Bryant said, “They didn’t want to jeopardize it with some podunk rivalry with Marshall University.”
To Bryant, the most important part of bringing esports to West Virginia campuses is to give West Virginian students the opportunity to enter the industry.
“Forcing these students to go out of state to chase opportunities that they love kinda sucks, right? I mean, out-of-state tuition is way more than in-state tuition. It would be really nice if we can give West Virginian students an opportunity to do what they love.”
WVU announced its first big esports recruit last Thursday. Top-ranked player Noah Johnson specializes in the popular football simulation game Madden NFL. Meanwhile, Marshall has recruited three players at the rank of Grand Champion III for the school’s Rocket League team.
The Marshall Esports Club Association, along with the older Marshall Smashers Student Organization, is hosting a statewide tournament of Super Smash Bros Ultimate called “Campus Clash,” on Nov. 13. Next semester, Campus Clash will be hosted by WVU.
Concord University has announced two Concord Scholarship Invitational esports events for this fall.
Gamers, high school-aged and older, can compete for Concord University scholarships and other prizes, but the winnings are only available as scholarships at Concord University.
The events will be held online. A League of Legends competition is scheduled for Sept. 11 and 12 and a Rocket League competition is planned for Nov. 13 and 14.
Concord University is the first public college or university in West Virginia to offer varsity esports to its students.
“After the success of our first Concord Scholarship Invitational with Elo Hell Esports (EHE) with getting recruits and from a viewing standpoint, we have decided to host two more Concord Scholarship Invitational events with EHE,” said Concord Esports Head Coach Austin Clay.
The fall scholarship invitational events are being produced and run by Elo Hell Esports. Also partnering to present the tournaments are Appalachian Eye Care and HyperX.
More information about Concord Esports and these upcoming events can be found on their website.
Esports are becoming increasingly popular across the nation with leagues and tournaments popping up more frequently, both online and in person. A bar in Wheeling recently hosted an event to see how a league playing a classic video game would fare.
It’s pretty standard for a bar to have some form of entertainment on a Saturday night.
Usually that’s a live band, or a DJ, but at Tacoholix in Wheeling they’re doing something a little different: a Mario Kart tournament with live commentary.
Yes, Mario Kart — the classic video game featuring characters from the beloved Nintendo video game universe racing go karts on tracks like Rainbow Road. But tonight, its being played in a bar with a small amount of prize money on the line.
Providing ‘Mindless Fun’
The idea started from a conversation Tacoholix owner David Comack had with one of his bartenders.
“Honestly we toyed around with doing like a video game tournament night, game nights, and actually my bartender Brett was like ‘yeah, you should do Mario Kart’ because its a game that sort of transcends generations,” he said. “The buttons haven’t changed, I mean there are different tracks and different drivers, but somebody who started playing on Super Nintendo or any of the other systems could operate and at least be competitive.”
Comack brought the idea to Jermaine Lucious of Exit Zero Entertainment, an events promoter in Wheeling that specializes in stand-up comedy.
Lucious jumped on it immediately and agreed to co-sponsor the event.
“Adults today are always looking for something to bring them back to their childhood,” Lucious said. “Mindless fun is something that’s appealing to everyone, and this was a time for everyone to come out and have a good time without worrying about all of the issues happening outside of the bar.”
The Rise of Metal Mario
The event started with 16 competitors playing in groups of four.
The two racers with the most points at the end of each set of five races advanced onto the next round.
Participants ranged from experienced gamers all the way to absolute beginners.
One competitor proved himself early on, and even earned a nickname because of the character he chose to play as.
“Well Chris Lyons was Metal Mario, and everyone was convinced that he was going to win because he won by like half a track in the first race,” Comack observed.
Lyons may have convinced everyone watching that he had a shot, but that didn’t stop him from being a little antsy.
After standing for the entirety of the tournament, he decided to sit down for his last race.
“It’s because I’m nervous. The less I have to concentrate on, like standing, is better. Nothing’s for certain in this game,” Lyons nervously said.
Lyons had good reason to be worried. In his final cluster he only scored first place once, which was unusual for him.
Sitting down ended up working, and Lyons won the first three races, thus securing his tournament victory.
“I can finally breathe,” he said. “They were all really good.”
Creating New Experiences
Only 16 people could sign up to participate, but around the same amount of people came just to watch.
The commentators kept the crowd entertained, and hearkened back to Exit Zero’s stand-up comedy roots, but Comack believes the event itself commanded a certain amount of attention on its own.
“We had an entire bar watching video games as if it was a sporting event,” he said. “To me it’s not always necessarily about what you’re doing, what kind of event, what kind of entertainment you’re providing it’s that engagement. It’s getting people excited about what’s going on at the present moment.”
The event’s success has led to the formation of the TASKAR Mario Kart league at Tacoholix. They currently plan on having similar events throughout the month of March.
