The SUNY Brockport Esports Club came into this semester looking to rebuild after the past year. The club president, Thomas Verhay, hopes their new and fully furnished gaming lounge will help them gain momentum as a club this semester.
“Every officer but one but one had graduated last semester. We are pretty much trying to build this back up from nothing,” Verhay said.
Club officer Justin Brewer explained how the club has had to adjust and attempt to grow this semester after dealing with the effects of COVID-19.
“I was on the team last semester and there just really wasn’t anything going on,” Justin Brewer said.
The Esports Club has been holding open gaming nights in their new lounge from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. every weekend throughout the semester.
The lounge is packed with eight Alienware gaming computers, a PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch consoles.
“The fact that we have access to this room has been awesome. You just come and play video games and have a good time, that’s it,” Brewer said.
The Esports Club has a wide variety of options to cater to all types of gamers on campus. They have made it their mission to cultivate a fun place for people to hang out and have a good time with friends. However, the club would still like to create esports teams on campus.
“As we get more people, we are looking to create actual proper teams. I think it would be really cool to get enough people for a League of Legends team. All we really need at this point is people,” Brewer said.
They are also looking to hold more events like Super Smash Brothers tournaments and other gaming tournaments on campus.
“We had a Smash Brothers tournament last Friday and had a decent turnout. We might be doing tournaments for non-Brockport students probably at the SERC to draw more attention,” Verhay said.
Students with an interest in video gaming, whether it be competitive or casual, should take interest in this club. The club plans to create more opportunities for people on campus to have fun and compete.