Now that the spring semester is in full swing, that also includes Keene State’s newest edition to the athletics program.
After being announced in the fall of 2023 and the program officially launched for this semester, the newly formed team of 18 students will begin competitions this week, according to Noah Drouin, head coach of the program.
The 18-student roster is across three different game titles the school currently offers: Rocket League, Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Overwatch 2.
The first official esports game will be played Today, Feb. 5, and will be a Rocket League game against Purdue Fort Wayne at 7 p.m. The Overwatch 2 match will occur on Feb. 6 against Lindenwood then The Super Smash Bros Ultimate match will occur on Feb. 8 against Farmingdale State. These games will occur on the same day of the week each week up until spring break, according to Drouin.
First-year Alex Nimiroski is one of the 18 team members. As someone who played Rocket League a lot and began playing it more competitively recently, he saw that KSC was having tryouts for the program. He said his friends convinced him to try out.
“I’ve enjoyed playing with all the players we have, we have a very talented roster,” Nimiroski said.
Nimiroski added he was very excited to get the chance to play competitively.
“I’ve never had really an opportunity to play with a talented roster like this in a league setting … we have a very good chance to make some noise,” he said.
Another player for the esports team, Sophomore Aidan Law, said he just likes to be competitive in anything that he does.
“We all want to win competitions. We all want to do really well … This is the first year we want to make sure that we can actually do something in this field,” Law said.
Currently, the team has a head coach and two assistant coaches. The team practices about three times a week for 2 hours during each practice, but the team practices more than that on their own time, Drouin said. Eventually, team members will have owl card swipe access to the esports room.
Once the competition starts, Drouin said, the team will then have 2 practices and a competition game per week for each of the three titles.
Drouin said the first goal for the esports team is to legitimize itself as an athletic program.
“We want students to come here and compete and we are going to provide you with the tools necessary,” Drouin said.
The space has 16 custom-built PC setups for its team members. The space includes a projector and desk for commentators.
“If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it right and we’re here to serve our students,” he added.
As for the future of the program, Drouin said there is no “junior varsity” team as for now, but could potentially launch in the fall of 2024. But what the second string might be called is unknown.
Tim Bruns can be contacted at
tbruns@kscequinox.com
