By Stevie Wallace
UNI Panther esports Logo
When we think about sports, our minds automatically think of a game like Football or Basketball. But taking the world by storm is the world of Esports. Short for “Electronic Sports” (As stated in the article by BBC), esports is where players play video games in a competitive state, usually in teams. Games like Overwatch, League of Legends, Dota 2, and even Rocket League or Super Smash Bros. are some examples of large esports that are played competitively.
Of the six people interviewed, most knew what esports is. Or, at least, had a general idea of what it all is. “Gaming online, but like competitively, but like in a team setting.” Caroline Francis described as her idea of esports. Freshman student at UNI Isaac Zeimetz describes esports as “playing video games in a competitive manner against other teams or individuals and is usually broadcast through some platforms such as Twitch. It’s celebrating video games almost as if they’re like a sport.” Junior Andrew Klever states that “It’s pretty much for any age; usually above eighteen. Anybody that competitively plays a video game and participates in tournaments; often it’s tied in with college or that type of age group.”
Esports has also found a way of it becoming the next step in the world of sports entertainment. “It gives a place for the people who might not be physically athletic but they still like the athletic types of sports,” senior Elizabeth Schechinger explains. “It builds the crowd, it’s like an entertainment like how sports would be. It’s entertainment for a different sort of crowd that might not go with the ‘live people versions.’” “I feel like it’s the next step in sports entertainment,” Andrew Newell states. “It is widely available to more people than general sports. Where in sports, depending on the sport, you would need to have a certain body type or physical attribute. While with esports, you can do it purely by sitting at home or going to a different venue and doing it there. I would say that’s more inviting towards the everyday person more than actual sports, while still giving the full entertainment value for any spectators.” Senior Hannah Tooley agrees, “It’s definitely growing. I’ve seen esports tournaments on regular television now. I think it could become a bigger part of our society and be more accepted as viable as real sports.”
The login screen for Overwatch, one of the more popular esports games
Esports can also be applied to be relevant in the ‘real world.’ “There are so many real-world applications. Obviously, teamwork, especially if you’re collaborating to do something like a raid or whatever team activities that you’re doing,” says Francis. “But not just teamwork. I think that it’s math skills, decision making, strategic thinking, creative thinking, and all of those things that are part of that and are real world applications, even as much as spatial planning. I think there’s tons of real-world applications from esports.”
“Esports can provide a lot of professional skills,” says Klever. “Time management is one; having to be there for practice with your team at a particular time; as well as in general making new friends, being sociable on different platforms while you’re playing the video game is very important; and having a positive attitude towards the gaming community is a big thing for esports too.”
There has been debate before whether or not colleges should be giving out scholarships for esports. Yet a lot of people agree that esports is now considered an actual sport and should be treated as such, including having scholarships given out. “I believe they should be, yes. Is it there yet? No.” Klever states regarding the situation, “But I feel like eventually, it will get to that point where scholarships will be a thing for schools. I feel like it’s more important for bigger schools to have them than small schools. But I still feel like the smaller schools should still get them, even if they don’t have a big population of gamers.”
“I do believe that colleges should give out scholarships for esports if they are also giving out scholarships for other sports,” says Newell. “Of course, any college that isn’t doing scholarships for sports wouldn’t necessarily be inclined to do it for esports. I believe that they should because a good majority of colleges already have esports teams anyways. If you’re going to be supporting full teams, I don’t see why they should get any less benefits than any sports team. It takes, in some cases, just as much a workload for the person doing the esports and their team versus, say a football or baseball team, with long hours, physical and mental efforts, training alongside actual coaches. In every way, esports fit that legitimate definition for sport. So, I feel like if a college is giving out scholarships for sports, they should include esports with that.”
“I think that if the programs merited it, I would be on board with scholarships going toward esports,” Francis states. “But I think that for me to feel like it was justified for those dollars to be spent in that direction, I would have to feel like there was a strong support network, either faculty or staff or departmental support to help and guide the people that were involved in the esports in order to feel like those dollars were going towards the overall university or college mission. I always think about that. I want non-majors to get a music scholarship, for example. I would want them to, even be a psychology major, but they’re a bassoon player, so ‘come over here’ and that’s going to make to make our ensembles better. That’s the same kind of philosophy for esports scholarships where it’s like ‘okay, if you’re excellent in this field, we can see that you’re going to be excellent at this, this or this, which is also part of our other programming.’ So, I can see some overlap there and maybe targeting scholarship dollars toward those things; as long as there was a structure to help people really understand how those skill sets translate in the university.”
A bigger debate is whether esports should actually be put on a professional resume or not. “It depends on who would you work for,” both Tooley and Schechinger say. “More professional places or marketing might not see that. If you’re working at Right Stuf Anime, I don’t think they would care and would appreciate that was one of your skills,” states Tooley. “If you are applying to something related to esports, put it on. If you’re applying to something to gaming in general, I think it would be good to put it on. But if you’re trying to get into something like an accounting firm, I don’t think you would want to put esports on your resume because they might not see it as professional,” states Schechinger. “It could be a lot of older generations that are doing the hiring spot. I think if it did get put on, you would need to list the skills the experience gave you that would be applicable to that job.”
However, some agree that esports should most definitely be put on a professional resume. “I think the most important thing is that there are some esports that are done individually. But I feel like a lot of esports are very team-based games and requires a lot of communication with your team members and require a lot of critical thinking on the spot,” states Zeimetz. “It may not seem like a lot of playing computer games at your computer seems applicable to work, but the idea of building a team and working with a group of individuals to accomplish a goal is just as important in a video game as it is in a cooperate setting. I feel like you could put on your resume and I think it’s a good thing to put on your resume. It shows that you could work with individuals.”
“I would say yes in the way that you would put another sport on a resume,” says Newell. “Because esports, for a good amount of people out there, is a viable job option. I know a lot of people in esports do it in full time where all their efforts are spent in practicing. Then they go into tournaments and they get money via that way. Then they could live things off of it like you would, say football, and doing that full time. So, if you can make a job off of it, it is a viable way for income, and it is something you are truly passionate about, I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t put it on a resume.”
Video games may be casual and something to do as a pastime, but they have evolved into an actual sport with a competitive setting and can involve teamwork and critical thinking. These elements could possibly even be applied to the real world, especially when it comes to job searching. And, of course, would be the next level of sports entertainment. The next time you think of a sport, don’t try to think of a typical sport, instead, try watching an esport and see how you like it.
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