Dedication, hours of preparation and the camaraderie and collaboration of a close-knit team are hallmarks of any collegiate competitive endeavor. And though it may not be a “traditional stick and ball sport,” Barton Community College eSports head coach Curtis Rose said the students he coaches are no different.

Even though the “playing field” is digital rather than physical, Rose said his team puts in the same intense effort into preparing for competition as any student athlete. The team Rose coaches defy traditional stereotypes that go along with gaming.

“Once people get in here and see the practice (the students) are putting in, and the work they’re putting in, those misconceptions go away,” Rose said of his team.

ESports was approved as a scholarship program at BCC in November 2019. The program began in the fall of 2020.

Rose previously served as the college’s multimedia and instructional designer for the Fort Riley and Grandview campuses. When the school began to look at establishing the program, he helped with the research and was eventually selected as the program’s first full-time head coach.

Like traditional sports, collegiate eSports is governed by the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA), which sets the guidelines for competition. Because there are distinct rules in eSports, however, it is a distinct entity from traditional athletics. Because they compete in a virtual environment, Barton competes against schools of varying sizes across the country.

While eSports has many similarities to other sports in terms of teamwork, preparation and communication, there are also other factors which separate it from other sports, as well.

What eSports competitions look like

As a team, BCC’s eSports program has 27 students and competes in eight different games, fielding 11 distinct “teams”. This is one area where eSports competitions differ from other sports.

Each game the school competes in has a separate league with a separate team. For each game, a school can field multiple teams if it has sufficient competitors to do so. 

“In basketball, you have five starters and everybody else is on the bench waiting to play,” Rose said. “If we have enough to field two teams, we can field two teams. Nobody has to sit and wait, hoping for their turn.”

For example, Barton fields multiple teams in three of the games it competes in - Super Smash Bros., Call of Duty Cold War Gunfight, and Madden 21 football.

A “team” in eSports can range from a single player up to six or more players, depending on the game and the mode of competition.

Something that makes eSports unique from other sports is that there is something in eSports for almost any individual, from sports games to action games, to more strategic games such as chess, and organized leagues exist for many of them.

“If there’s something that (interests) you, just look, and it’s definitely a thing,” Rose said. “If there’s a way for two people to say one is better than the other, then it’s being broadcast somewhere.”

Preparation for competition

With 11 separate teams to coach, Rose said his work as coach is a full-time job.

He spends 1-2 hours of dedicated practice time each week with each of the 11 game teams. Like many sports, Rose said this dedicated practice time can involve anything from going over the team’s game play, to reviewing previous competitions to studying upcoming opponents and opponents’ strategies.

Outside of that guided practice time, each student spends 4-6 hours each week practicing on their own. With many players competing in multiple games, and several members practicing and competing remotely, coordinating practice schedules among team members can be difficult. In those situations, to get additional practice time, team members will coordinate so as many as possible can practice together.

As with any team sport, being able to coordinate and practice together is crucial.

Rose said the same intangibles that create success in other sports are also vital in eSports.

“(As a coach) you want coachability, good attitudes, things like that,” Rose said. “I can’t teach somebody to be a positive person; that has to come from within them. I can (help draw) it out, but if it’s not there to begin with, you really can’t coach that. So you try to look for those personal qualities.”

Strong communication skills are vital as well, Rose said.

“For example, if you get eliminated in a game, you’re then counting on your teammates to carry out whatever the objective is,” Rose said. “So communicating properly, what happened to you, what the other team is doing, and helping those other people is going to put you in a better position.”

As with any sport, effective communication prevents teams from making the same mistakes consistently, something he preaches to his team. And because different team members can face the same individual opponent, actively communicating an opponent’s tendencies can help a teammate be more successful.

Because video games are often solo activities by nature, there is a perception that gamers are all introverted. While there are gamers who are like that, and are attracted to gaming for its solo nature, Rose said he finds the opposite to often be true.

“For the most part, you’ll see more (gamers) are much more outgoing,” he said.

He also feels the eSports environment is a much more positive, engaging and collaborative environment than often is portrayed.

As with any coach, Rose said his goal is to help the students grow, socially, competitively and academically. Performing at a high level academically outside of competition is something he stresses with the students he coaches.

Like any sport, Rose said there are real-world applications to eSports that students can carry with them into whatever career path they choose to follow.

“ESports is the lens, not the discipline,” Rose said. “Anything you’re doing you can see eSports (in) it. It’s just finding those connections.”