51社区

In 2017, 51社区 student Kristofer Meyeres set out with a mission: To unite the gaming community at the University through the creation of an esports club. With the help of fellow student Ivy O鈥橲haughnessy 鈥�  not only was that club created 鈥� it snowballed into a presentation to OHIO鈥檚 Board of Trustees and laid the foundation for development of an official esports program at the University.

鈥淏obcat Esports and its affiliated clubs offer a unique community space for students who are passionate about esports and video games,鈥� said Meyeres, founder and president of Bobcat Esports. 鈥淏obcat Esports offers leadership opportunities and a place to challenge students鈥� current potential. Many students who have come together through our clubs have found friendships and a sense of camaraderie centered around their favorite passion.鈥�

Now the largest university esports club in the state with more than 220 members, Bobcat Esports includes a nationally ranked Hearthstone team, a highly competitive Overwatch team and several teams competing in Rocket League. There are also teams for League of Legends, Super Smash Brothers, and Counterstrike: Global Offensive.

Image

Additionally, Bobcat Esports is getting teams and clubs started for FIFA, Fortnite, Apex Legends and fighting games.

鈥淲e welcome every type of gamer, from the casual player, to the YouTube and Twitch creatives and even the most hardcore of esports enthusiasts,鈥� said Meyeres, an OHIO senior studying business administration.

Now in its second year, the club has engaged in a variety of activities, from casual competition, national tournaments, fundraising, speaking at the GDEX conference and presenting about the importance of esports to OHIO鈥檚 Board of Trustees.

This past spring, Bobcat Esports hosted its inaugural esports invitational in partnership with the esports class in the College of Business. The tournament included Overwatch, Super Smash Brothers and Rocket League.

鈥淥ur Hearthstone team casted their championship鈥檚 games during the tournament as well,鈥� Meyeres said. 鈥淭his was a super thrilling moment for us as we had not only run our first-ever tournament successfully, but we did it with the help of a student class.鈥� 

The tournament saw more than 100 people on the bottom floor of Copeland Hall, with every room running some form of event. While OHIO students are welcome to use University facilities, there is currently no dedicated esports facility on campus 鈥� but that鈥檚 not far off. OHIO is exploring possible ways it can support esports with a dedicated academic facility designed for multiple use鈥攃ompetition, play, practice, and courses.

Image

Additionally, with the help of the Bobcat Esports Club, several faculty members are developing an official esports curriculum at the University, including Dr. Jeff Kuhn.

Kuhn, an Instructional Designer working for the Office of Instructional Innovation and in the Games Research and Immersive Design (Grid) Lab, has been working with the Bobcat Esports Club since it was established. He said the club engages students in cutting-edge experiences that position them well for the future of work 鈥� distributed, dynamic and cross-cultural.

鈥淚n esports competitions you are working in a high stakes situation with a team to solve a complex program and often that team is highly diverse,鈥� Dr. Kuhn explained. 鈥淭hese traits encompass many of the 21st century skills students need leaving a university. Further, esports exposes students to jobs and careers that simply didn鈥檛 exist five to 10 years ago.鈥�

Esports has event organizers, esports news reporters, data analytics, esports broadcasters, game coaches, developers and many other positions. All of these are digital, media rich jobs that fit President M. Duane Nellis鈥� call for a focus on student success and transformation to challenge and empower OHIO students to discover knowledge in a collaborative learning environment that reaches across disciplines, and into the broader community preparing them to lead in an ever more globally connected world.

O鈥橲haughnessy, vice president of Bobcat Esports, hopes to work within the esports industry upon graduating as a collegiate esports director for a university. Later in life, she hopes to work with professional esports teams. Coming from 51社区, that鈥檚 not a far-fetched idea.

Thanks to strong programs in the College of Business and the Scripps College of Communication, OHIO is already a leader in the esports industry, with alumni working in many of the top gaming companies in the nation.

OHIO has six alumni at , four alumni at two alumni at , seven alumni at , and two alumni at .

Alongside these alumni connections within the larger videogame industry, alumni of the Bobcats Esports Club are already making waves within the industry. Alumni connections through the student club include the vice president of league operations and production at Activision Blizzard/Major League Gaming; Overwatch League host; vice president of sales at ; commercial director for G2 Esports; senior events planner at The Pok茅mon Company International; and most recently, founder of , a news and multimedia aggregate focused on esports.

OHIO graduate was , what he calls the Linkedin of the esports industry. The company is a web and mobile app geared toward connecting gamers, coaches, recruiters and business professionals in the booming esports industry, which, according to Columbus Business First, could reach an audience of 450 million this year.

Benson said OHIO played a huge part in his personal development and in the development of eFuse. From his first day on campus, he said his entrepreneurial spirit was fostered by the Center for Entrepreneurship, where he was continually exposed to new problems, people and opportunities.

The OHIO alumnus said it was that real-world experience that gave him a skillset to be able to create eFuse. He also credited the Bobcat Esports Club.

鈥淏obcat Esports is a growing opportunity for gamers and business professionals,鈥� Benson added. 鈥淭his club has a tremendous leadership team that is focused on providing opportunities for students post-graduation.鈥�

O鈥橲haughnessy said OHIO has an 鈥渆xtremely strong community鈥� set up for the esports scene, and is great for students who want to dip their toes into the community.

Image

A senior studying games and animation, O鈥橲haughnessy said any type of gamer is welcome 鈥� from those more interested in the casual, community side of gaming, to those who wish to pursue esports more seriously and would like to pick up a leadership opportunity.

鈥淲e operate as an umbrella organization, which means that each game/team under us operates as their own club for their specific esport, simply branched out from us,鈥� she explained. 鈥淭his provides many leadership opportunities for students. Each game is allowed to operate and manage their teams in the way they feel best fits them; the Bobcat Esports management merely supports them and provides assistance where they need it.鈥�

You can get in touch with Bobcat Esports through esports@ohio.edu and by joining its main discord here: .

鈥淚f you want to work in esports, come to 51社区, where esports legends are born (, , , and more),鈥� Benson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great time to be a Bobcat, especially in esports.鈥�