Esports coming to Valpo!

[vu72]

Pray tell, what the heck is a Esport? 

http://valpoathletics.com/athletics/news/2018-19/19142/valparaiso-university-to-launch-esports-program/

A beginner's Guide:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/guides/esports-beginners-guide/

[M]

Wave of the future!  This is a great venture, IMO, and could potentially provide more students and new game day experiences and opportunities.

[valpotx]

Please don't call them student athletes.  That is just a joke.  I get the trend, but they are not athletes.

[FieldGoodie05]

Please don't call them student athletes.  That is just a joke.  I get the trend, but they are not athletes.

I'm in agreement

"Definition of athlete. 1 : a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina."

[vu84v2]

Wave of the future!  This is a great venture, IMO, and could potentially provide more students and new game day experiences and opportunities.

From everything that I know about esports, this has nothing to do with gameday experience. It is about competitive teams from universities competing in video game competitions in a manner in which fans can watch the teams play and compete.

I cannot relate to this at all, but I do know that esports events have been filling major stadiums.

[mila]

This is not a sport. These are in no way athletes. This is not what Valpo should be aspiring to be a member of. I hope that the Athletic budget is not supplementing any of this nonsense.

[talksalot]

FYI, in a recent survey, about 50% of the current student population "regularly engages" in this "Nonsense".  This is absolutely a "Student Retention" effort.   

[M]

Everyone complains about Valpo not adapting, so they adapt...and everyone complains 

[FieldGoodie05]

Everyone complains about Valpo not adapting, so they adapt...and everyone complains 

"Complains" they are not sports, yes.  I don't really care what VU invests in as long as the student body is paying their bills and engaged.

[ValpoFan]

When you have as many prospective students visiting campus and asking about esports as we do, it is "DUMB" not to add an esports program.

[VULB#62]

Please don't call them student athletes.  That is just a joke.  I get the trend, but they are not athletes.

I'm in agreement

"Definition of athlete. 1 : a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina."

Competitors, definitely. Athletes, no. Same as robotics or debate.

[swiftmutiny]

As someone who enjoys esports, and has been watching and participating in them for years, I'm glad that Valpo is starting up this program. Nearby universities such as Purdue, Butler, Indiana State, and Ball State have already adopted esports programs, as have many high schools. Will the average gray-haired Valpo basketball fan care about this? Not in the slightest. But incoming freshmen, who have never known life without video games and the Internet, just might. The demographic interested in esports also skews toward those planning to go into STEM careers, and anything we can do to keep those students on campus is a boon in my opinion.