It sounds like esports are picking up all over America. Missouri is no exception to this! Just this past weekend, esports took over at the O’Reilly Family Event Center at Drury University! Drury hosted an esports festival and competition. Anyone who wanted to play with each other could show up.

Not just that, but schools in the Midwest Esports Conference were able to come, play and, most importantly, compete. College-level esports is still on the rise. It isn’t a fad like some people seem to think it is.

Mizzou Esports Showing Up and Out

Kevin Reaper, general manager of Mizzou Esports, is high on the scene right now. The Mizzou team consists of 21 athletes who specialize in three games overall: Overwatch, Rocket League and League of Legends. These seem to be the top games played at any university or high school. The Missouri esports scene is undoubtedly in on that trend.

What’s better is these students have scholarships! Mizzou’s esports scholarship budget is around $150,000. They are the first SEC school to have an esports program on top of that. What we think is fascinating is that at Drury, one of their basketball scholarship students transferred over to an esports scholarship.

But $150,000 for esports scholarships? You could get some serious players competing for your team with that kind of money! Drury University, University of Missouri, Wichita State are just a few of the schools investing in esports.

Changes Are Coming

This basketball player we mentioned, though, is Tyler Clanton. He spoke about the change recently. “I finished my last year of eligibility with basketball, and then Coach (Michael) Jones sent out an email that we were starting an esports program at Drury.”

So, he goes from basketball forward to esports player. I imagine the transition was not too difficult. Drury and Mizzou are far from the only schools in the mix, though. Missouri State and Maryville University both have esports clubs. Columbia College has a more fleshed-out esports program.

Maryville also won the League of Legends national championship three times out of four years, according to their website, which is no mean feat.

Joseph Merrick is an MSU Junior and a member of their esports club. During a recent interview, he pointed out that the club has nearly a hundred or more students. “The club is mostly student-run right now, but we’ve actually picked up interest from the school. They’re actually looking to build an esports room for us to both practice and to play our official matches online.”

It’s a way to learn, to grow,and shatter the stigma that only dorks play video games online. There’s a camaraderie with it and competition more intense than you can find anywhere else.

Erase the Stigma

More schools than ever are getting in on it and we love to see it. Reape says that the excitement for esports is more present than ever. While there’s still a stigma that comes with gaming online and esports, Reaper points out to parents about how great the team-building mentality is.

“There’s a stigma behind gaming, that’s absolutely sure. I think what esports does in the gaming industry that’s unique is show that these students, we have, for example, the amount of effort that they put into this to be the best. They’re not just spending hours and hours mindlessly playing these games; they are strategically trying to get better. It’s no different than a college football team, and you watch, and you see how much work goes into making the teams as successful as they are, that’s the same thing we’re doing here.”

Esports is growing at a rapid rate. It’s important for colleges not to miss out. Sure, it’s an investment of time and money. But there’s something to be gained from it. Students involved are less likely to act out and more likely to spend time on their team and their studies.

Schools that have GPA requirements will probably see their athletes not messing up so they can stick with the team. There’s a lot of good to be had in these systems. While they aren’t perfect, it’s still a learning process for all involved.

We’re also proud to hear that Mizzou Esports swept all four of their matches at this recent weekend competition. Drury won two of the matches but lost on Sunday to the top team in their conference. Both teams still have a shot at the March playoffs in Kansas City, so that’s good news.

It sounds like these teams are all taking it very seriously. Who knows what awaits the Missouri esports scene? We don’t, but we can’t wait to see for ourselves!