Free Store in Lower Brooks Replaced with Impending Esports Arena
By: Cayley Bowman, Community Editor
Esports (electronic sports) is an up and coming form of competition that uses video games. The players professionally compete in a variety of multiplayer games, whether it is individually or on teams. Some of the games that are played during these competitions are Rocket League, Fortnite, Super Smash Bros, and Apex Legends.
As of spring semester of 2023, USM has had an Esports team that competes in two different tournaments: the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference and the National Esports Collegiate Conference. The team has had many players place in the competitions, such as the team placing 2nd at finals for League of Legends. Across these 2 conferences, the esports team competes in 17 games total and there are many players competing in multiple conferences at once. USM’s esports team is currently the largest club on campus, and is continuously growing.
On January 31, an event was held to announce the opening of the new esports arena in Lower Brooks. An esports arena is an open, gaming ready space where students can come out of their dorm rooms to play, watch, and enjoy the sport together. The entire esports team was there, as well as many of the university’s department heads (recreation, SEAL, the dean, the president’s office, etc.) Ainsley Wells, the president and CEO of the USM Foundation announced the new arena, and then invited the USM Coordinator of Recreation and the President of the Esports team to come up and talk about the team.
“It tapped into an unheard population that was stuck in their dorm rooms, having unstable internet connections, and they never had an opportunity to connect, get to meet each other, and find their people. We have a very huge esports population here on campus, and it is very big in Maine. USM is becoming the largest esports program in Maine, and that’s pretty awesome,” said Katriana Thebarge, the USM Coordinator of Recreation.
Town and Country Federal Credit Union invested in the new esports arena, allowing the team to have a new place to come together and play. Once the arena is built in the fall of 2024, the university will even be able to host its own competitions. The donation was $750,000 dollars, and the credit union will be a founding partner of USM’s esports program. A Husky alumni, John Paradise, was the one to announce the investment from Town and Country. Paradise is SVP of communications marketing, and community engagement at the credit union.
The name of the arena is going to be The Collab: Esports Arena by Town and Country. All students are going to have access to the equipment and a positive environment where they can explore their interests in the esports world. “This ten year agreement will support the creation of a best in class esports program at the University, which will provide significant learning opportunities, career opportunities, and much more to not just students but to the community and the entire region,” said Paradise.
Town and Country is helping the university develop a permanent facility and program that is believed to boost the popularity of esports in Maine. “The new arena is going to level the playing field by giving all students access to the latest equipment and positive gaming environment, which will help this popular club sport grow in an equitable way,” explained Paradise. The hope for the university is that the esport team and facility will help further a healthy campus community. Town and Country believes in helping locals, and believes this is its truest form.
President of the university, Dr. Jaqueline Edmonson, spoke at the end of the event. She expressed that esports will bring a community of belonging to USM. “A collaborative esports arena will allow us to amplify the healthy community building aspects of this activity, and build strong social connections that help our students thrive,” said President Edmonson. It is hoped that the arena will provide an equitable space for the diverse community of students to participate by making state of the art equipment and technology available to everyone. Players and fans will be able to participate together, providing a space in the arena for students to watch and commentate during competitions.
It was also announced during this event that USM has a new minor in esports management in the school of business. The first course with esports content will be offered this spring, with a focus on legal aspects and implications for managers. “The potential for more collaboration is wide open,” said President Edmonson when talking about the possibility for more esports courses.
Interview with President of the Esports team Michael Brown:
- How did the Esports team begin?
- It originally started as a Rocket League club until we expanded into playing in ECAC which let us play all the games available then which grew our interest since we have a lot of players that play more than just RL.
- Where have you guys been playing/will you be playing before the arena is finished?
- In the very beginning it was at our setups or just in our dorms to then having a PC room which is an old computer room in Bailey (Bailey 322) to now building an arena to play in with full setups.
- What does it mean to you to be on the Esports team?
- Being on the Esports team has let me find a community that I feel connected to. It’s something I thought I couldn’t do just because of my skill level but now improving on the games I play to being chairman of Esports is something I am very passionate about.
- What does this opportunity mean for you and the team?
- This announcement means so much to not only improving our Esports team as a brand here at USM but to legitimize our status as a competitor in the Esports community in the College scene. It will also foster a sense of community within the Esports community even more having an actual place to call home.
- With the new arena, what do you think the future of Esports at USM will look like?
- The future of USM Esports I think will legitimize us as more than a club sport but a legit contender in Esports for titles be that ECAC, NECC, or even more.
- How many competitions have the teams won for USM?
- We have gotten to playoffs with many of our teams and are near the finals but haven’t won fully yet we have won awards for player/rookie of the month by ECAC, All-Academic awards, and clips of the week!
- How did you become the chair of the Esports executive committee?
- I and a few others Erick Williamson, Nicolas Blackman, and Jake Shaw didn’t like how the leadership was going and were concerned Esports was not going in the direction we thought it could with student leadership not doing the tasks required to grow as a club that we ran against previous leadership me as Chair, Erick as Secretary, Nicolas as Vice Chair, and Jake as Treasurer.
- How many members would you say you have total on the team?
- Across all games we have about 80 people playing but on our server, with all updates and information we have over 200.
- Is there anything else you like to add?
- Something I’d like to add would be other college esports programs better watch out because we are coming for gold.