After the coronavirus began making headlines in the U.S. this past March, collegiate sports came to a screeching halt. As schools switched to remote learning, conferences canceled spring seasons.
Winthrop saw abrupt ends to baseball, softball, lacrosse and other sports, but the one team still able to compete was Winthrop Esports.
Josh Sides, head coach of the esports team, said he was glad the team was able to keep competing, but that it was far from a seamless transition.
“Having all of our players in one place is definitely a big positive when we’re practicing and when we’re playing,” Sides said. “For accountability, for collaboration, making sure we all have good PCs and good network connection and stuff like that – it’s all a lot easier to do when everybody’s in one place.”
Before the disruption of COVID-19, Winthrop Esports was on a roll. The team went 2-0 in Overwatch competitions, 5-1 in collegiate League of Legends play and 4-0 in the ASU GSV League of Legends Tournament. The Eagles recorded wins over top-ranked programs, including Harrisburg University.
“What we did last year as a first-year program was almost unprecedented,” Sides said. “You don’t see first-year programs in sports really do the kind of things that we did.”
That perfect tournament record earned Winthrop one of four spots in the ASU GSV Finals, which were originally scheduled to be played in person in San Diego in late March. Instead, they were held remotely on April 25 and 26. While Winthrop managed to upset Maryville University in the semi-final match, Harrisburg emerged victorious from the Grand Final.
In June, Winthrop competed remotely in Overwatch, going 1-2 and ultimately losing in the first round of the Overwatch Collegiate Championship.
While competing remotely was not ideal for the Eagles, they find themselves facing a similar situation this fall. Sides said he believes the team will see “about a 50/50 split” between players returning to campus and those choosing to compete remotely this fall.
Jun Choi, a junior and top lane for the League of Legends team, said he will compete from his home in San Diego this semester.
“It was definitely a hard decision to make between staying home or going back to campus since I miss everyone on the esports team,” Choi said. “However, the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately made me take online courses.”
Sides said he is unsure whether those who return to campus will be able to use the lab in Owens Hall. “If we do get to use that space, it’s going to be by the CDC’s guidelines,” he said. “Safe distancing, sanitizing, masks on.”
This season will already look different because of the coronavirus, but some additional change is coming that’s unrelated to the pandemic. According to Sides, Winthrop is adding three new games to its esports program: Valorant and Rocket League this fall and Super Smash Bros. in the spring.
Sides explained that those rosters would be filled by a mixture of freshmen and transfers who hope to “make a name for themselves” and “push for championships.” He also said that the main goal for all second-year Overwatch and League of Legends players is to win a National Championship in both games.
“The biggest thing we learned from last year is that we can beat top teams,” Sides said. “Going into this year we won’t have to think ‘Oh, it’ll be great if we beat Maryville’ or ‘It’ll be great if we beat Harrisburg,’ because we’ve already beaten them. Now it’s just sustaining that and beating them consistently instead of just here and there.”
Winthrop will begin the esports season when the League of Legends team competes in the Harrisburg University Esports Invitational on Sept. 19 and 20. You can follow Winthrop Esports on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/winthropesports and watch anytime they livestream a match.
Image courtesy Winthrop Athletics
