Columbia Basin College Adds New Esports Team to Athletics Roster
Columbia Basin College announced this past week the inclusion of an esports team to their athletics roster. The Hawks will be the first collegiate esports team in the greater Eastern Washington region.
CBC also revealed their brand new esports room that will be built within the anticipated Student Recreation Center this upcoming Fall semester. The room will feature over 16 setups for students and players to practice and compete on, as well as being able to livestream from the setups for fans to watch at home.
“We know that collegiate esports is growing quickly across the country and we believe starting a program here at CBC will bring many great opportunities to our students,” said CBC Director for Student Recreation and Wellness Alex Thornton. “Having a space in our brand-new SRC designed specifically for esports will set us up for great success and should be a very appealing asset when recruiting esports student-athletes to CBC.”
A New Dimension of Play
Esports will be the school’s sixth unique sport offered for students, looking to compete in games such as League of Legends, Overwatch, and Rocket League. CBC felt the new endeavor would provide a different avenue for students who wanted to compete in something other than traditional sports.
“We’re definitely very excited to get this program growing and we think it’ll be a cool thing for our students to take advantage of,” Thornton said. “It opens up the benefits that more traditional sports bring like the team building, leadership, that kind of stuff to a demographic that might not typically participate, especially at the organized kind of collegiate competitive level.”
CBC is currently looking for a full-time coach for the Hawks’ esports team. The school is looking for someone who has both academic and esports knowledge and experience to help develop their team and players.
In other news, Northeast Iowa Community College recently announced the addition of their own esports program for interested students, which you can read about here.
Written by Carter Barnes