Angel Dominguez
Staff Writer
Dominican could see a new sport as soon as this January as the university is considering adding esports as a club sport for this spring, according to administrators.
They discussed their plans with a small group of enthusiastic students late last month. Afterwards, freshman Melanie Canales complimented the idea.
“Gaming has become a huge outlet for myself and others, so to be given the opportunity at Dominican, a university founded on community-based activities and passion, is a step in the right direction,” Canales said.
Competitive team esports pits student video gamers against competitors either in person or online. This is a new wave of competition like team sports but are played in video games like Valorant, Call of Duty, Overwatch, and a variety of other games.
Esports’ popularity has skyrocketed within the last decade around the country, and colleges like the University of Illinois have started esports clubs and competitive teams.
That popularity got Dominican interested in adding it, according to Barrington Price, vice president of Student Success and Engagement.
Price and Laura Svendsen, assistant director of Student Life fielded questions and suggestions from a small group who gathered for an informational session late last month in the Sirc.
Because esports probably will start as an intramural club. Students wanted a space that would be open to all gamers, not just competitors. They also said they liked Price’s plan for Dominican to get a room, consoles and hardware for the club, and plans on opening the discussion for students’ input on specific hardware.
Canales wants an open club space, “Creating a comfortable inclusive space for others is key to being able to adequately see success and new friendships being formed over the commonality of gaming”, she said.
Price had said earlier that he hopes to push past the club level of play and start an official Dominican Stars Esports team to compete in the NACC (Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference). This push would require the approval and sanctioning of a division or conference at the collegiate level. Price has reached out to fellow NACC colleges in hopes of exploring the interest of universities in the future of esports.
Price shared his enthusiasm on the launch of the club, “I’m hopeful that this opportunity can build new points of community for students, I think it’s an opportunity to build excitement and encouragement…. and I am curious in learning how to create engagement opportunities for things that today’s student really care about and esports seems to be at the center of that,” Price said.
