By Andrew Coffman

In the inaugural season of E-Sports at Shenandoah University expectations have been blown out of the water.

“My expectations for the year were to have 12-15 students and just to complete at 1 or 2 games at a national or regional competition,” said Dr. Joey Gawrysiak, the founder and leader of both the E-Sport major and team at Shenandoah University.

The team now bolsters a varsity roster of over 35 students who compete on 3 different games at the national level every week.

Even with the program being new, they’ve seen success early. “We’re number 1 right now in the region in Overwatch, we’re in the top 50% in League of Legends, and our Rocket League team is competing against professional teams,” said Gawrysiak.

With the early success and growth have come some growing pains. As the team grows, a bigger space to compete and more coaches will be needed. But Gawrysiak feels these are “good” problems to have.

Despite the quick expansion, the E-Sports team is always looking for more students to add to their growing team. “If the students want to do it, then I want to give them a place to do this,” Gawrysiak said. “That’s the point of having this organization.”

If you have interest in joining the E-Sports team contact Dr. Gawrysiak at jgawrysi@su.eduor visit the E-Sports lab in the basement of the Health and Life Sciences Building.