Will Salinas
Sports reporter
Northwestern State University intramurals started an esports league to keep students engaged while taking a break from their studies.
Jason Stelly, assistant director for intramurals, and Alan Pasch, director of facilities, have partnered with Mission Control, an app that hosts esports leagues, to host esports tournaments for students.
They talked about the possibility of intramural esports, but Stelly said that the circumstances of what is going on put things into action.
“The concept for intramural esports was already taking shape before the schools closing,” Stelly said. “The idea was to develop the leagues during the summer to coincide with the opening of the Esports lounge. However, as everyone is aware, plans were altered quickly. We reached out to other universities who were starting programs and within two weeks had our own leagues.”
Setting up esports tournaments is an opportunity to not only appeal to the students who play video games but to get the project up and running when students are at home.
With the plans of adding an intramural esports league how the leagues were going to work, it made the transition easier for both Pasch and Stelly to set things up.
“The transition really wasn’t that hard,” Pasch said. “We try to reach out to online students when we can, so this was a perfect opportunity to give it a shot. We were able to provide an online activity for our students to participate in.”
The partnership with Mission Control helps set rules and regulations for leagues with games such as Madden NFL 20, Mario Kart and Rocket League.
The first esports tournament is currently happening and will end May 2.
When finals week is over, there will be more leagues with registration beginning the second week of May.
With the early start of these leagues, the intramural esportsleagues will get practice through the summer and will be ready to be introduced to new students entering the fall semester.
Should regular intramural activities be set to return for students, the esports league will continue to run alongside with the other activities that will be held.
