By Jacob Jones
The WPU esports program has been becoming ever more prominent since the beginning of its arrival in Fall of 2022. Different teams have grown, and we’ve begun to see improvement and growth in our players over the past few semesters.
Coleman Arehart, the head esports coach at William Peace University, gave some highlights and updates on how our teams have been performing since last year.
“So last year we had a really strong showing from the Rocket League team that ended up kind of petering out towards the end in the playoffs. But it was really nice proving grounds to kind of show how far we’ve come from the previous semesters,” said Arehart. “Overwatch struggled quite a bit because they were ranked very highly, and struggled with communication. This semester we learned that we’re kind of restructuring the way we run things with Overwatch, and I can already see the benefits there.”
The Smash Bros. team is also looking to improve by participating in more in person tournaments in Raleigh.
“That’s going to help them be a lot more engaged and kind of generate interest in that esport this semester,” said Arehart.
For this semester, both the Rocket League and Overwatch teams will be participating in the NACE Star League again to compete for our school.
They’ll also be looking to go to the “Playthrough Gaming Convention in downtown Raleigh,” where they’ll have multiple tournaments for teams to compete in.
The esports program is always looking for “cumulative interest” to create new teams, Arehart said. Recently, there’s been a few words put out here and there for interest in Fortnite. However, a leadership role and a solid squad of players is a gap yet to be filled in order to create a new esports team.
There’s also the possibility for games such as SMITE or League of Legends, which also requires a solid team.
“As long as there’s enough to fill the full NACE team, then we would be happy to start a club, which might eventually evolve into a team down line,” said Arehart.
For anybody that may be interested in esports — creating their own team, or joining a team — the program is open and welcome to all skill levels. The esports teams have developmental squads for any players that may be newcomers in order to support them.
“Last semester, we did a team therapy session with the Rocket League team, and now we’re bringing both Overwatch and Smash Bros. into the mix,” said Arehart.
These ways are how players in the esports program bond and get to know each other; and the program has really grown into an environment that is inclusive and fun for anyone.