Gaming 101: A look at Northwood’s esports program – WNEM

MIDLAND, Mich. (WNEM) – If you can picture cars playing soccer, that’s the video game Rocket League.

“Esports is competitive gaming at the highest level. Think of it as like a digital playing field,” Northwood Esports Head Coach Cody Elsen said. “It’s just a big common misconception that it’s just a bunch of kids in the basement playing games. It’s evolved to so much more than that.”

As he sits in one of the many gaming chairs dotting the esports facility Northwood has built underground, he contemplates how gaming has matured from when he first started playing more than a decade ago. Elsen has been instrumental in turning Northwood’s esports program into what it is now. The team won the Collegiate Rocket League North American championship. They are the first university to qualify for June’s inaugural world championship in Dallas.

“As much as a football or basketball player is passionate about their sport, you know, these student-athletes here at Northwood, our varsity esports team, for example, are just as passionate about what they do,” Elsen said.

Northwood has become a mecca for esports. The team won four different national titles in three different games in the last year. One of its top players, junior Landon McGee, recently signed with the London Spitfire, one of 20 franchise team slots in the professional Overwatch League (another video game).

“It was just a game me and all my friends played growing up,” said Zach Woods, Northwood junior. “We just played it for so long, eventually we kind of got good at it.”

Woods studies entrepreneurship. De didn’t even know Northwood had an esports program until he met Elsen on a tour of campus. Now, Woods is the captain of the varsity squad for the video game Smite. He spoke to TV5 sitting in front of a table of multiple trophies. There are so many the team will need a case sooner or later to hold them all.

“It’s cool to think that my name will forever be attached to like one of the first colleges that ever gave esports a chance,” Woods said.

More and more schools are following in Northwood’s footsteps.

“A lot of these traditional sports were losing viewership to esports,” Elsen said. “Like League of Legends that one year, had more viewers than the Super Bowl.”

Northwood’s gamers put in crazy hours, especially in their underground facility. The massive room looks like something out of Mr. Robot — dimly lit with blue LEDs, faces staring stoically at the bright lights of computer screens. It’s the program’s training room, lockers, and film studio all in one. Some of the players put in upwards of 30 to 40 hours a week gaming.

The program is constantly updating and evolving. It just added another video game, Super Smash Bros, to its roster last semester. Assistant Coach Jacob Jacob spends hours reviewing game footage with the new team

“This is a relatively new program and so a lot of the guys are very eager to learn,” Jacob said. “Some of them practice all the time. I try not to do too much for them. I try not to overwork them, but they are willing to.”

Though the fights might be virtual, the money is very real. Any prize money players win is theirs to keep, Woods said. Some tournaments have prize pools of $50,000. Players could take home $10,000 apiece after a long weekend. Most put that money toward tuition, and any left over goes right to their pocket.

Northwood has put its money where its mouth is too. Students can get scholarships to play esports now.

“I started off with a basic scholarship and now I think I’m at the second-largest scholarship that Northwood offers,” Woods said.

That second-largest scholarship is $6,000, according to Woods. If he wins a big tournament, those winnings, plus his scholarship, will cover tuition for the semester and some.

“Coach rewards success and he wants you to put in the work,” Woods said. “When you do, it’ll show.”

Woods is one of several players in the program on scholarship.

“It’s not this you know, brain-melting thing that people think,” Elsen said. “There’s a lot of positive aspects to it.”

Those winnings and scholarship money legitimize the program. Elsen wants parents to see the potential too.

“Try to understand what your kid is doing and it’s not just somebody that’s loading in to play a video game and not socializing,” Elsen said. “There’s a lot of social aspects to it. There’s a lot of team building, team bonding, critical thinking, and important skills that your kid’s actually, you know, learning by just playing video games.”

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