In early October, Lasell University Esports had its first meeting, during which they discussed their plans for the year and expectations for the Overwatch team this season. Lasell University Esports’ Overwatch team is a group of players who compete against other teams in matches. Unfortunately, the team is off to a rocky start this year, with its Overwatch team captain leaving last semester. Team Coach Kurt Wirth says the team is “Resetting a bit and looking to add new players.”
Starting its third year together, the team is “Hoping to find as many tournaments as possible to compete in, but more than anything, always seeking to improve both individually and as a team,” according to Wirth. When asked about the team’s strengths and weaknesses, Coach Wirth says that the team is improving drastically in communication and individual skills, but they need to work on “choosing how and where [the team] initiates fights.”
Coach Wirth’s main priority in coaching is team chemistry while pushing his team forward. He explains that he tries “to strike the balance between supportive and pushing [the team] to improve.”
His methods of coaching are well-appreciated by the team and the club members. They describe their appreciation for Wirth “graciously [volunteering] his free time to coach [their] Overwatch team” and providing “some much-needed direction and leadership” in a post on the club’s Instagram page.
The competitive Overwatch scene has decreased since the Overwatch League folded, but Coach Wirth is “always on the lookout for more opportunities.” Overwatch is a free-to-play, team-based competitive shooter game. Players can choose from more than 30 heroes, each with their own kinds of abilities.
Coach Wirth describes the matches as follows: “It’s always five versus five and based on the map, one team either needs to escort a payload, fight over a certain point on the map, or something related to those two things. Each team will have one tank, two damage heroes, and two support heroes.”
The Overwatch League was created in 2016 and quickly became one of the most successful and valuable Esports leagues in the world. The league’s success began to slow in 2018. The final nail in the coffin for the league was the COVID-19 pandemic, causing the discontinuation of the Overwatch League at the end of the 2023 season. Even if the Overwatch League is shut down, that does not stop Lasell University Esports from playing.
Graphic by Caitlin Callahan
In addition to the Overwatch team, Lasell University Esports caters to competitive gamers and welcomes casual players into the esports lab.
Club members play many games, but mostly competitive massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). Members of the club cited the most popular games as Overwatch, Dead by Daylight, Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Warzone. The club also owns two Nintendo Switches. Club members plan events like Smash Nights where anyone can participate, not just club members.
The club members encourage people to join their Discord to keep updated on events and the esports lab’s hours. They also emphasized their interest in holding more events to bring in new people to the club.
The club stresses the most that the esports lab is open to gamers of all skill levels. They encourage all players to come and play in the lab or join the Overwatch League, regardless of proficiency. The club is optimistic that more newcomers will join in the spring semester.
Sophomore club member Cam Foster-Martez says people should join the Esports club because it is a community where people can casually hang out and play video games with friends or play competitively in local and online tournaments.
“Esports is a growing business and a lot of people have an interest in it,” Foster-Martez said.
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