Colonel E-Sports

Growing up, I was a gamer. It started with the original Nintendo, graduated to SNES, Playstation, PS2, and so on. In high school, I would rush home to jump online to raid with my guild in World of Warcraft, or play some domination in Call of Duty. Countless hours spent in front of a screen. Friendships were made back then which are still strong to this day. But, that's about as far as it could go. Now, Nicholls State's Colonel E-Sport team is opening up the possibility to not only continue down that gaming road, but to actually earn a scholarship while doing so. While some on the outside looking in might think that this is just a group of people playing video games aimlessly all day, that couldn't be further from the truth. The group is actually split up into separate teams specializing in different games. Like most collegiate sports, the members of these teams have different responsibilities. Because of this, the teams must practice, strategize, and execute their game-plans. They must work as one unit at all times if they expect to outplay the opposing team.

While competing against other college E-Sport teams is the day to day for these college students, the overall goal of this program is to spread E-Sports into the spotlight for other colleges and high schools in the area. With the leadership involved inside of the Colonel's team, they are finding success in doing so. Local high schools are now starting to embrace the idea of creating their very own E-sports teams which will give opportunity to kids (like my past self) to learn these valuable skills in a structured and organized academic environment. This also leaves the possibility open for the most skilled of players to actually earn a scholarship to further their education in whichever field they desire.

While we were at the Nicholls State Campus taking head-shots for the team, we were lucky enough to see one of their teams in action. The team was actually playing in a tournament for a chance to compete in The Redbull Campus Crush Tournament in Birmingham Alabama. The team had to win 6 games in a row to make it in. I wont give away what happened, but if you are interested in finding out, check out the highlight video!

Colonels E-Sport Team Gallery

Highlight Video

Colonels E-Sport Links