Esports, which is short for “electronic sports” is a new kind of competition through video games that is done as a team or individually. The first college or university to adopt this idea was Robert Morris University in 2014. Since then, esport programs have been implemented in colleges and universities across the country, with a variety of games teams can play.
Viterbo University introduced our very own esports team just last year for the 2022-23 season. During its first spring season, the team found immediate success in a game called “Fortnite” making it all the way to the “Fortnite” Grand Finals as the only team from Wisconsin to make it that far.
In only its second year, the esports team has found success. Under head coach Sam Clark, the V-Hawks currently hold an 18-16 record with its most recent match being a 3-0 “Overwatch” win against Carthage College. The esports team competes against a variety of other colleges, with wins against the University of Michigan and the University of Louisville, which is quite impressive considering the difference in size of the school’s student body.
This success did not come overnight. The V-Hawks knew it would take a lot of preparation to get to this point. Kadin Ahler, a member of the esports team states, “To prepare for the season, we did what any other team would do and practiced. The important thing was making sure all of us personally played our best in order to improve as a team. There were a few long days where we would go over film and then practice between three to six hours. As the season continued, we kept working on critical points like how we played together as a team and individually. Our coach and team captain set high expectations, which helped us acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses.”
Even with the success the team experienced, the V-Hawks still had some struggles throughout the season, but they always came out on top. “The season had its ups and downs, but when it comes down to it, we all enjoyed competing and trending towards being a better overall team. Our team initially had a unique dynamic because of our varying experience. Our captain has the most prior experience competing, followed by myself, but two of our players were brand new. At the start of the season, we had a few losses simply because of that fact. But we never pointed fingers and always focused on getting better as a team. We made it a point to stay positive and mentally reset after a loss or tough day of practice. It helped keep us motivated to put maximum effort in every day. We have the mentality that we all want to win and will because we spend the time constantly improving. We finished fifth in the season and look forward to competing in the new game,” states Ahler.
With the fall season of esports coming to a close, the V-Hawks look to take everything they learned from the Fall and apply it to their upcoming Spring season and dominate the competition.
