JOHNSON CITY – (Sept. 28, 2020) The 22 students who are part of the inaugural esports varsity team at East Tennessee State University were introduced on Friday, Sept. 25.
The two teams will compete in Overwatch® and League of Legends® and will participate in tournaments hosted by the National Association of Collegiate E-Sports (NACE).
Tryouts for the teams took place earlier this year, and nearly $20,000 in scholarship support has been provided to 14 eligible team members.
ETSU’s Overwatch® team will play its first game on Monday, Sept. 28, against Cornell
White at 8 p.m. The team will compete every Monday and Thursday evening through Oct.
30, and games can be viewed at twitch.tv/etsuesports or in the new esports arena in
the D.P. Culp Student Center which features a 32-foot video wall. 
In addition to the Sept. 28 game against Cornell White, the competition schedule includes Indiana Tech University (Oct. 1); Kettering University Overwatch Academy (Oct. 5); Purdue Fort Wayne Esports (Oct. 8); St. Ambrose University (Oct. 12); BYE (Oct. 15); Great Bay CC Herons (Oct. 19); Iowa Central Tritons (Oct. 22); LCU Overwatch (Oct. 26); Spoon River College Esports (Oct. 29); and Mizzou Club Esports (Oct. 30).
The Overwatch® Fall Cup Playoffs begin in November.
The League of Legends® schedule has just been released but the names of the schools ETSU will face-off against will be announced in the upcoming days. The team will compete on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. beginning Sept. 29, with two games scheduled for Saturdays, Oct. 3 and 31. League of Legends games will also be streamed at twitch.tv/etsuesports.
“This is an exciting moment for ETSU as we begin our competitions,” said Jeffrey Shell, interim esports coach. “We have built two outstanding teams comprised of students who have earned distinction for their gaming skills. Many are already highly ranked in Overwatch® and League of Legends®.”
Members of the ETSU esports varsity team competing in Overwatch® are Zachary Branham, Liam Dahlberg, Dakota Garrett, Ashe Greenberg (captain), Layne Mitchell, Ryan O’Conner, Connor Porch, Taylyn Powers, Josh Siffring, Austin Teagarden, Ryan Williams and Samuel Zorn.
ETSU’s League of Legends® competitors are Garrett Childress, Aaron Hayes, Caleb Marks, Zachary Marks, Chris Moser, Brandon Reavis, A.J. Sedlak, Vishvajeet Singh, Shirui Tao and Lucca Weber (captain).
The Overwatch® fall 2020 schedule as well as more information about team members is available here. More information about League of Legends® members is available here.
To learn more about ETSU’s esports varsity team, contact Shell at shellja@etsu.edu.
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