ATHENS, W.Va. -Concord University is home to the largest eSports team in the state. ESports stands for electronic gaming and these Concord Mountain Lions have recently taken the top spot in the rocket league, competing against the nation’s eight best teams.
The CRL or the Collegiate Rocket League Championship is one virtual tournament the mountain lions went into as second seed, with hard competition against a Michigan school, Northwood University, which has kept the title of champion for four years in a row, but Concord came out on top.
The Marketing and Brand Director as well as the Rocket League Coach for the Concord eSports Team explains the video game is simply soccer with cars.
“You have a ball and then you just have to get the ball into the opponent’s net to score, and that’s all it is. The cars have the ability to fly around because there are like rocket jets on the back of them, but it’s super, super cool. It’s really easy for an audience to watch. It’s the easiest eSport for people that aren’t traditional or traditional viewers to pick up on it,” said Johnathan Rose, Marketing/Brand Director for eSports and Rocket League Coach.
While this team of 83 does not include all active players they focus on a multitude of games and because of their talents they receive financial help.
“So, we get $2,000 to $5,000 in eSports Scholarships. So that’s usually our average that we give out. Some people can go all the way up to full rides. We can have a couple players on those full rides, and then we have a couple players on half rides. So, it varies, but the average is $2,000 to $5,000 that we give out to all of our players,” said Austin Clay, eSports Director for Concord University.
This eSports team is filled with hard workers and a new roster for rocket league. During a competition the floor is called the passion pit because of the positive energy the room is filled with, and that hard work is paying off for this team.
“So, it is very hard to start out with, but once you get into the repetition of playing, then it becomes like a force of habit, just like you would train for football, basketball. It’s part of their daily lives now. They come in, as soon as they get out of class, they practice for two hours, they go eat dinner, they have a match at seven, and then they come back and practice for another two hours. It’s all about reps, putting the time in and getting the muscle memory to do so,” continued Rose.
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