MISHAWAKA--Bethel University has launched an esports team this semester. The team has 14 members who compete playing Rocket League, Overwatch and Super Smash Bros. The team competes in scrimmages and championships against schools across the country.
Corey Bridgeman, captain of the Super Smash Bros. team, worked with the team’s Coach, student managers and Bethel’s Student Engagement Coordinator, Anna Letens, to organize an informal tournament on Friday night that was open to all Bethel students. It began at 8 p.m. and was hosted in the lobby of the Weikamp Athletic Center. The tournament had a turnout out of 19 participants and several spectators. Dylan Smith placed first in the tournament.
“It’s a fun campus activity that we thought we’d try out,” Bridgeman said.
Bridgeman also said that this more casual tournament was a strategy to see how interested noncompetitive players would be in an esports club; while the esports team requires players to be skilled in their selected game, a club would include players of any skill set and offer a wider variety of games. But the team needs more players as well.
“The esports team is really in its infancy, and we’re looking for more people,” Bridgeman said.
For more information, visit the team’s Facebook, Instagram or Twitter; you can also subscribe to their Twitch channel be notified when they are livestreaming matches. If you have any questions or suggestions, contact Coach Dan Wort or one of the student managers, Brianna Densmore and Makenna Perry, via their Bethel emails.