ATHENS, W. Va. -On Saturday, the Concord University’s esports team brought back their annual competition against West Virginia University Tech’s esports team.
It’s called the ‘Coal Pit Classic,’ a name chosen to represent the two universities and Southern West Virginia as a whole. This competition started last year, but was brought back again for its second year thanks to community support.
Students from both universities competed in various games from Fortnight to League of Legends. They were cheered on by friends, family members, and members of the community, both in the audience and streamed online on Twitch.
We spoke to some of the organizers for this tournament who say this is a great way to give these players the chance to show what they can do for a live audience and to introduce the area to what Esports is.
“Just look at the turnout. A lot of people are becoming more and more fans of esports. Probably, like, five or six years ago, you probably… couldn’t tell if someone was like, ‘What’s esports?’ You know? No one would really know around here what is esports…” says Nathan Lockhart, interim assistant director for Concord University Esports.
“I think it’s amazing. It gets them experience that they haven’t had before, to plan on LAN, to play in front of a crowd, that traditional sports get all the time, like football, basketball, they always have a crowd, family members come, just like we see today. We see a lot of family support, and they get to show what they love to their families and why they’re at Concord,” says Jonathan Rose, marketing and brand director for Concord University Esports.
Here’s the results:
Street Fighter 6: 4-0, Concord win.
Fortnight: 3-0, Concord win.
League of Legends: 2-0, Concord win.
Rainbow Six Siege: 2-0, WVU Tech win.
Concord University won the Coalpit Classic overall with a score of 3-1.
If you are interested in learning more about Concord University’s Esports team, Lockhart says you can go to their website or attend one of their games to find out more in person.
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