Esports is a burgeoning trend, with pro leagues popping up, and colleges and high schools forming their own competitive teams across a variety of popular game titles.
Schools throughout the country are getting in on the action — but the budding interest in esports brings new challenges. Take, for example, the case of Michigan State's Esports Student Association.
The school currently boasts 13 official esports clubs, according to radio station WKAR. That number of clubs creates logistical challenges, as most of them share a single room. A dedicated esports space, such as those at Western Michigan University and Ohio State University, would help alleviate some of those challenges, but it’s unclear whether that will happen.
Each of the 13 clubs falls under the school’s Esports Student Association, which helps with the oversight, funding, scheduling and promotion the programs. Joseph Lewis, president of the Esports Student Association, said while previous school and athletics administrators indicated support for the programs, some of the progress has stalled under new leadership that was installed in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal.
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“They were in talks to get us money from club sports and getting us our own space, and then the situation took place and now [former AD Mark Hollis] is gone and that set us back,” Lewis told WKAR.
The association is working with faculty to try regain the momentum it had under previous leadership, and is seeking a meeting with new AD Bill Beekman to discuss the value of a new space.
