Photo by Andres Aguirre.
By Andres Aguirre
Eastern New Mexico University Esports is a student organization on campus that involves online gaming on a competitive level while representing the university.
President of the organization, Jacob Hall-Bustamante, said Esports is a great opportunity for anyone to hang out, relax and find a community to have some fun.
Esports has a variety of games that are available for anyone to play such as Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Call of Duty, Overwatch and more. Hall-Bustamante also stated that if someone wants to bring a new game to play or their consoles, it is welcome to do so.
“It is important to ENMU because it is a great chance for students to take part in something that is fun. It is also a perfect place for people who want competition, but don’t play physical sports. It is a good balance of interaction and mind games,” said Hall-Bustamante.
Esports is a global industry that is growing exponentially. More and more colleges are incorporating it into their student organizations. Scholarships are not uncommon for Esports in certain areas. Every year there are major gaming tournaments held across the nation such as Evo, Fortnite World Cup and the International eSports Federation World Championships.
“It’s a cool environment to just come out and play some video games. You don’t have to be super good either. If you want to have some fun and are looking for new friends while playing your favorite games, come check us out,” said Hall-Bustamante.
Esports meets every Wednesday from 4:30-9:00 p.m. in the Greyhound Lounge located downstairs in the Campus Union Building for anyone to attend. During their meeting they offer a small Super Smash Brothers tournament, signup for the tournament is from 4:30-5:00 p.m. If students do not want to participate in the small tournament they can still come out and play other games.
On April 4, ENMU Esports will be hosting Smash Grande which is a Smash Brothers tournament hosted every semester in the CUB ballroom at 10:00 a.m. Anyone is able to join, and it is free to enter.
More information about ENMU Esports can be found on their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ENMU-Esports-336361386983283/
