The esports program at Simpson now offers a scholarship to first-year students to help them compete at the collegiate level.

The program competes in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), which is the largest Esports conference in the country. NACE currently has 600 schools and 14,500 students competing. The sport continues to grow each year and provides more students the opportunity to do what they love.

Hubert Whan Tong, the director of esports at Simpson, talked about the new scholarship and the opportunities it provides first-year students.

“It’s similar to traditional athletics. Since we’re not NCAA, we’re able to do scholarship regardless of Division II status on campus,” Whan Tong said. “Any incoming first-year that would be scholarship eligible, we do some basic background on it, work with the student, and then award the scholarship as necessary based on merit.”

The scholarships are similar to athletics: students must meet GPA requirements and responsibilities to the team. The team practices for eight to ten hours weekly, but the players have 24-hour access to the gaming arena to come in for additional practice.

First-year student Dean Lantz is one of the players currently on scholarship. He talked about why he chose Simpson and what the new scholarship has done for him.

“I thought it was a good place for me being close to home and also being able to do the thing that I’ve loved for years, and being able to earn money from doing it. It was a cool feeling being told that I can actually be given money for playing a video game.” 

Lantz will be competing for the Storm in Rocket League but said he has also started playing League of Legends since he arrived on campus. He said this will be his first time competing in an official Rocket League tournament.

“I play the scheduled tournaments they have in the game, but I’ve never played in a tournament against other people. Coming here will give me an opportunity because we have our first match on Monday,” Lantz said.

Zayden Erdman is another first-year student on scholarship. He said he originally came to 

Simpson for a football visit and discovered the Esports program soon after. He talked about what esports means to him

“It definitely takes a little bit of practice, especially for the game that I play: Rocket League. I’ve been playing it for three years, and I’m still improving every day trying to get better,” Erdman said. “I’m not participating this semester due to football, but next semester I’ll be more active.”

The Storm won their first Rocket League match of the year on Monday Sept. 19 and will be broadcasting all games on SimpsonEsports on Twitch throughout the season.

Valorant and Rocket League are the two games currently in-season for the Storm.