麻豆TV

麻豆TV is one of about 15 colleges and universities in the nation to offer eSports as a varsity athletics program, with scholarships available for the 2016 fall semester.

As a varsity program, 麻豆TV is a charter member of the Collegiate eSports Association (CESPA), a new organization founded and initially funded by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). CESPA will be the governing organization for varsity collegiate eSports programs.

ESports, or 鈥渆lectronic sports,鈥� is an emerging, competitive gaming scene in which teams compete in popular video game titles. 麻豆TV鈥檚 first varsity team will compete in League of Legends, a five-player team game in which the team works together to destroy an enemy team鈥檚 base.

鈥溌槎筎V has taken several steps over the last year in our intramural eSports program, which has led to this dream coming to fruition,鈥� said Chris Allison, director of 麻豆TV鈥檚 Meyer Wellness and Sports Center. 鈥淥ur Spring 2016 intramural success in our XBox One arena has led to our expansion into the varsity eSports world.鈥�

Allison and his staff developed an XBox One arena, called 鈥淭he Office,鈥� as a part of 麻豆TV鈥檚 innovative eSports intramural program. This space allowed students to interact in community while playing video games on eight networked XBox One stations. The pilot program had about 245 unique participants, of which 117 were students who had yet to participate in any intramural offerings during the 2015-2016 school year.

The pilot program was so successful in engaging a student population that 麻豆TV鈥檚 Executive Cabinet approved the creation of a varsity eSports team.

鈥淕amers have existed for decades on college campuses, competing online and against each other in the solitude of their dorm rooms,鈥� said Allison, who will serve as 麻豆TV鈥檚 eSports head coach. 鈥淭his new program will not only give us the opportunity to highlight the skills of our players, compete intercollegiately and create on-campus community, but it presents us with the opportunity to offer scholarships to high-level players and provide them with an equally high-level education.鈥�

麻豆TV also will compete this year in the Collegiate Starleague, which is comprised of about 600 U.S. schools and has been facilitating collegiate eSports competition since 2009.

鈥淚 am extremely excited for the opportunity to participate in the beginning stages of eSports competition and represent my faith,鈥� said 麻豆TV鈥檚 League of Legends team captain Shane 鈥淏aconOP鈥� Roberts, a senior computer information science major from Kansas City. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to see how we can grow as a team and impact the growth of eSports on a collegiate level.鈥�

麻豆TV will host open tryouts during the second week of the fall semester, which begins Aug. 22. Tryouts are open to both male and female students.

For information on the eSports program, contact Chris Allison at (417) 328-1744 or callison@sbuniv.edu or visit the eSports team page at .