The newly developed E-Sports Club has had their struggles with the pandemic but were still able to keep up recruitment and lucked out in finding a new place to call home.
While the club would usually meet in the Palouse Mall at PlayLive, things had to change because of the store’s limited hours after the pandemic began.
E-Sports Club President Dylan Shepler said the club was able to find another meeting spot in the ASUI Student Lounge, located in the Idaho Student Union Building.
“It was hard getting people to actually go to meetings because there was a slight cost,” Shepler explained. “And the distance between here and PlayLive made it difficult for some people to actually get there.”
With the new meeting place being on campus, it limits travel and students living on campus don’t have to make the trek to the mall. The lounge in the ISUB is set up well enough that they are still able to play their games similarly to how they would at PlayLive.
E-Sports is competitive gaming where a group of people master a game and learn to work as a team in order to win gaming competitions. This can range from fighting games, like “Super Smash Bros,” to multiplayer team-based games, like “Overwatch,” “League of Legends” and “Rainbow Six Siege.”
Shepler said he is optimistic about putting together a good squad for the tournament since the club meetings are on campus now. But first, they need to train a team to be efficient at a game before they enter a tournament.
The E-Sports Club had plans to enter competitions last semester, but that proved to be more difficult than they anticipated because of the difficulties the club has had with engaging people. Shepard said because they are a new club, they still need a good number of people to become skilled enough at playing a game to compete, but sometimes it can be difficult to get people engaged and keep them that way. However, they still welcome gamers to come and have fun.
Most clubs on campus have had some trouble getting started after COVID-19 because clubs at the University of Idaho are required to create their own protocols and safety measures, which are then approved by the university. This can be tedious, yet it hasn’t been an issue for the E-Sports Club.
They were able to easily adapt the club to the new space and implement protocols such as social distancing, wearing masks and having those who are not playing games hang outside the meeting space until it’s their turn.
The Big Sky Conference has an E-Sports League and offers tournaments as competition. Shepler said he is hoping to enter one a few months down the road, but that’s if they are able to put a team together. He said they really are excited.
Hannah Marschell, a transfer student, is relatively new to the club, but is excited about what she can do there.
“I’m hoping to bring Among Us to the E-Sports Club,” Marschell said. “But I also want to try out Super Smash Bros. and other existing games.”
The E-Sports Club meets Mondays and Fridays from 6-8 p.m. in the Vandal Lounge of the ISUB. For those who have questions or who want to join, they can email [email protected].
This article has been updated to correct AP style errors.
Ryan Hill can be reached at [email protected].