Clinton Community College student athletes can now battle it out on the virtual battlefield thanks to the creation of a brand new esports team. From this fall, the college will start the first season of its e-sports team. Amy Farnsworth, a sophomore on the team, was part of the program in its infancy before being affiliated through the National Junior College Athletic Association. Farnsworth said she hopes to grow the small team of two into a much larger group in the coming years. “We’re trying to tell people ‘yeah, if you like playing video games, why not do it for a sport?’ said Farnsworth. Sarah McCarty, CCC’s director of campus life, decided to begin the project about two years ago. The team is almost ready to kick off this year’s competition in the SUNY E-Sports League, and she said she was thrilled to see her vision for the team come to life. “I’m just really excited for our students — I think we have a lot of gamers on campus,” McCarty said. “I thought it would be a good idea for a campus to join and start a program, and I’ve been working on it quite a bit during the pandemic. We will now start in the autumn of 2022.” The team also welcomed Madison Cragle as the program’s first head coach. Cragle graduated from SUNY Canton last May and was also an active member of her school’s esports team. Now looking for her own team, she is trying to get around a minor challenge where she can’t contact college students without dormitories at CCC. “It’s a lot harder because there are no dorms here on campus like in Canton,” Cragle said. “It’s been harder to get groups of students who are friends and find those small groups of people who really want to play and participate together, but I find ways to do it and it worked.” Cragle said she has used multiple methods to recruit students for her Cougars’ roster. “I’ve put up signs in the academic buildings, I’ve sent emails,” she said. “I had a day when I was working here on a recruiting day to get people out and get people interested.” The school fully supports the new team. A computer lab in CCC’s Science and Technology Center has 10 Alienware computers and all the equipment students need to play at a competitive level. There is also a new Nintendo Switch console Cragle said the Alienware computers will give team members access to top-notch equipment to practice at a high level for their competition. “They have Intel I9s, so they’re some of the best gaming PCs you can get,” Cragle said. “Better frame rate, they don’t chug and lag and it’s just a smoother experience… It seems like they really care about the students and want the program to do well.” The total cost to fund the esports team was about $35,000, but Farnsworth said it was a worthwhile investment for the students who love gaming. “I’ve been playing video games all summer,” Farnsworth said. “Practicing all summer, and I just want to get back to it because it’s something I really enjoy and hope to make my career out of.”
Clinton Community College student athletes can now battle it out on the virtual battlefield thanks to the creation of a brand new esports team.
From this fall, the college will start the first season of its e-sports team. Amy Farnsworth, a sophomore on the team, was part of the program in its infancy before being affiliated through the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Farnsworth said she hopes to grow the small team of two into a much larger group in the coming years.
“We’re trying to tell people ‘yeah, if you like playing video games, why not do it for a sport?’ said Farnsworth.
Sarah McCarty, CCC’s director of campus life, decided to begin the project about two years ago. The team is almost ready to kick off this year’s competition in the SUNY E-Sports League, and she said she is thrilled to see her vision for the team come to life.
“I’m just really excited for our students — I think we have a lot of gamers on campus,” McCarty said. “I thought it would be a good idea for a campus to join and start a program, and I’ve been working on it quite a bit during the pandemic. We will now start in the autumn of 2022.”
The team also welcomed Madison Cragle as the program’s first head coach. Cragle graduated from SUNY Canton last May and was also an active member of her school’s esports team. Now looking for her own team, she is trying to get around a minor challenge where she can’t contact college students without dormitories at CCC.
“It’s a lot harder because there are no dorms here on campus like in Canton,” Cragle said. “It’s been harder to get groups of students who are friends and find those small groups of people who really want to play and participate together, but I’m finding ways to do it and it worked.”
Cragle said she has used multiple methods to recruit students for her Cougars roster.
“I’ve put up signs in the academic buildings, I’ve sent emails,” she said. “I had a day when I was working here on a recruiting day to get people out and get people interested.”
The school fully supports the new team. A computer lab at CCC’s Center for Science and Technology has 10 Alienware computers and all the equipment students need to play at a competitive level. A new Nintendo Switch console has also been ordered for the team.
Cragle said the Alienware computers give team members access to top-of-the-line equipment to practice at a high level ahead of their competitions.
“They have Intel I9s, so they’re some of the best gaming PCs you can get,” says Cragle. “[They have] better framerate, they don’t chug and lag and it’s just a smoother experience… It seems like they really care about the students and want the program to do well.”
The total cost to fund the esports team was about $35,000, but Farnsworth said it was a worthwhile investment for the students who love gaming.
“I’ve been playing video games all summer,” Farnsworth said. “I’ve been practicing all summer, and I just want to get back into it because it’s something I really enjoy and hope to make in my career.”
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