This program was established in 2019 and has quickly become a vital part of the MTU community. It provides a unique opportunity for students to participate in a less traditional form of collegiate competition.
The varsity esports program at MTU offers a wide variety of games for teams to compete in, including Valorant, League of Legends, Overwatch 2, Rocket League, CS:GO, Apex Legends, and Smash. Each of these games offers a unique challenge and requires different skill sets, making the program appealing to a broad range of students.
Elliot “Eel” Vironda, a player on the program’s Valorant team, spoke about his team’s plans for the upcoming season: “We want to take as many wins as possible but enjoy the competition by going against the best teams in the region.”
The assistant director of the esports program, Christopher Gelety, outlined their goals this Spring: “Competitively, I want to see deeper runs from our returning teams in NACE Varsity Premier, and positive wins over losses for our new entries…There’s a lot of uncertainty due to how the national playoffs are seeded, but I still believe it’s possible to get a team to the national finals.”
In addition to the competitive aspect, the program offers students the opportunity to work on the staff, giving them creative control over the media team. Gelety added, “I want to see our video and general content released regularly. We have a lot of cool stuff to show, but we’ve been struggling to get it all out the door in front of everyone.”
The games will be broadcast live on the MTUEsports Twitch channel starting with MTU vs West Virginia Institute of Technology in Rocket League this Monday at 7:00 pm.
