Expanding the meaning of student athlete through eSports

B y J O N A T H A N G U N S O N
Educational institutions
across the United States are
embracing a new group of student
athletes who dont use helmets,
balls or bats but favor headsets,
keyboards and gaming mice.
On June 11, Robert Morris
University - Illinois became the
rst American university to add
eSports, or competitive video
gaming, to its lineup of varsity
sports and hopes other schools
will follow its lead.
Were proud to be the first
school with this type of pro-
gram and look forward to see-
ing eSports grow in the coming
years, said Kurt Melcher, the
universitys associate athletic
director in charge of the eSports
program.
RMU recognizes the opportu-
nities for financial assistance,
social development and mental
stimulation available to its more
traditional athletes and sees its
new eSports program as a way to
make those same opportunities
available to a group of students
who historically did not have
equal access to them.
The program will provide
scholarships and validation for
students at our university who
have traditionally been under-
served, Melcher said.
It gives more of them the
opportunity to develop pride in
their school and to gain a valu-
able extracurricular education.
This fall RMU will join the
Collegiate Star League, a com-
petitive collegiate eSports league
boasting competitive teams from
more than 100 colleges and uni-
versities in North America, with
the feeling that its unique com-
mitment to its eSports program
and athletes could lead to imme-
diate success.
We want to be as competitive
as we can right off the bat, and
we hope we can attract students
who will help us do that in our
rst year competing in college
eSports, Melcher said. Since we
announced the program a couple
of weeks ago, weve received well
over 1,000 emails from interested
gamers from all over who want
more information about our
school and the program. Now we
just have to sort through them all
to nd the best ts.
The rst game RMUs varsity
eSports team will be playing
is League of Legends, a free-to-
play online video game in which
two five-player teams compete
against each other to complete a
variety of objectives and achieve
victory by completing all the nec-
essary objectives faster than the
opposing team.
We chose to start with League
of Legends because of its global
popularity and the sheer number
of people who actively play it,
Melcher said.
Today League of Legends is
played by more than 70 million
people worldwide and is cur-
rently the most-played video
game in the United States.
Professional League of Legend
games are also the most watched
eSport in the world today, with
last years professional League
of Legends World Championship
Series attracting more than 32
million viewers.
To put that number in perspec-
tive, those are more people than
have watched any NBA Finals
or MLB World Series Game in
more than a decade, and more
viewers than tuned in to the
most-watched BCS National
Championship Game of all time.
And last year was only the third
year of the championship series.
ESports is a growing indus-
try, Melcher said. Were happy
to be involved.
Also happy to be involved in
eSports are students at the Uni-
versity of Utah, thanks to the
efforts of Rizwan Mohammed.
Mohammed, from Taylors-
ville, is a junior studying com-
puter science at the University of
Utah. He has a love for League of
Legends and a desire to share it
with others.
When I got to school, I was
happy to nd there were a ton
of people who enjoyed playing
League of Legends as much as
I did and some who were really
good, Mohammed said.
Encouraged by the number
of likeminded individuals he
discovered, Mohammed spear-
headed the formation of an of-
cial League of Legends club
through the schools student
association, became the clubs
rst president and worked with
the school and members of his
club to establish a competitive
club team.
It took a little work to get
the ball rolling, but its been an
amazing experience, Moham-
med said. My involvement with
League of Legends here has let
me help build a community here
in which people with similar
interests can come together to
build relationships and become
involved in something that gives
us pride in ourselves and our
school.
The club team has partici-
pated in a number of competi-
tive leagues since its inception in
February 2013 and is currently
a member of the Collegiate Star
League, competing in tourna-
ments with other collegiate
teams from around the country.
Mohammed is pleased with the
current condition of his club and
team but admits that the future of
his team at the university could
be in jeopardy.
Unlike Robert Morris Uni-
versity, we dont yet have a way
to ensure our team will have
enough quality players once
some of us have left, Moham-
med said. Incoming freshmen
could have trouble nding us if
we dont nd them rst.
He feels building strong
eSports communities in local
schools can solve this problem,
and one BYU student thinks
that is worth trying here in Utah
County.
Michael Center, a 27-year-old
teaching student at BYU who
works at Orem Junior High
School, will be the faculty advi-
sor for the schools rst League of
Legends team.
Since it will be the only junior
high team around, the eSports
team at Orem Junior High will
not have anybody outside its
school to play against, yet.
The team will likely be orga-
nized more like an after-school
intramural league, with a num-
ber of small teams at the school
competing with each other,
Center said. I think theres a
good chance well have enough
interest to eld a good number of
teams at the school alone, so the
kids will have plenty of opportu-
nities to compete.
Center anticipates his eSports
team will be successful and
hopes its success will encourage
other local junior high and high
schools to form teams of their
own in the future.
This rst year is intended to
be very research based, to see
what works and what doesnt,
Center said. The goal is to get
support from a bunch of schools
in the Alpine School District and
get competitive play happening
between a number of schools
within the next few years, espe-
cially on the high school level.
Center suspects local schools
will want to get onboard once
they see how eSports are able to
give some students who are not
as interested in traditional sports
the opportunity to develop social
skills, learn discipline and take
pride in their accomplishments.
Studies show you can get the
same social and psychological
benefits from playing coopera-
tive video games as you do from
playing team sports, Center
said. This program is intended
to reach those disenfranchised
kids who want to be involved but
who arent interested in or good
at sports, or music, or theater, but
who enjoy gaming.
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Hamas rocket attacks have BYU
Jerusalem Center taking precautions
B y J O S E P H M O X O N
BYU Jerusalem Center stu-
dents and faculty have been using
an in-house bomb shelter as a pre-
caution against rocket attacks by
the Hamas militant group.
There were several orders to
move to the bomb shelter Tues-
day and again on Thursday.
Students are also seeing other
restrictions when traveling
around Jerusalem. The univer-
sity still considers the overall
situation safe for students to
remain. The Jerusalem Center
has had periods of closure in
the past because of unrest in the
area.
BYU released a statement July
10 saying that code-red sirens
sounded throughout Jerusalem
that evening, briefly sending
students to the centers bomb
shelters. Rockets red by Hamas
and al-Quds, the military wing
of Islamic Jihad, have been red
into Southern Israel, includ-
ing Jerusalem, since July 8,
when students and faculty rst
retreated to the centers two in-
house shelters.
The Jerusalem Center is situ-
ated in East Jerusalem, which is
populated predominantly by Pal-
estinians and has not been the
target of any terrorist rockets.
Time in the shelters has lasted as
little as 10 minutes.
Taking cover in the centers
bomb shelters is not a routine
occurrence. During most semes-
ters, students never need to go
underground.
But that isnt to say students
are unsafe, or even scared. Jeru-
salem Center student Jessica
Hart, 24, a BYU nursing major
from Colorado Springs, said the
media is making things in Jeru-
salem out to be much more dra-
matic than they actually are.
We all feel very safe here; we
are able to go out during the day,
and the people are very calm in
the streets. Yesterday, I went
out on a eld trip to the Jewish
Quarter, bought pancakes that
are being made for Ramadan
and then visited a few different
churches. I do not feel threatened
at all while being outside, she
told The Universe.
Our security staff is well
trained and aware of what is
going on, she said. There is
still tension, but we do not feel
endangered.
BYU issued a statement earlier
last week informing parents and
others that everything is under
control and that steps are being
taken to ensure students safety:
The Jerusalem Center is safe.
All students participated in a
calm and uneventful field trip
to Bethlehem earlier Tuesday.
Because of current tensions, East
Jerusalem and the Old City are
currently off limits to students,
and travel to West Jerusalem is
permitted during daylight hours
only. Travel to and from West
Jerusalem is by taxi only, and
the use of public transportation
within Jerusalem is prohibited
until further notice.
The missile attacks have
increased tensions in Israel,
already high during the last few
weeks after three kidnapped
Israeli teens were found mur-
dered in Palestinian-controlled
West Bank and a Palestinian
teen was burned alive by Israeli
extremists. The Israeli military
has responded to the attacks with
deadly force, deploying active and
reserve army, navy and air forces
to Gaza to quell the situation.
The State Department hasnt
issued an updated travel warn-
ing for Israel and the West Bank
since February, when it advised
Americans not to travel to the
Gaza Strip but characterized
safety in most major metropoli-
tan areas as comparable to or
better than those in other major
global cities.
Over 3 million foreign citi-
zens, including hundreds of thou-
sands of U.S. citizens, safely visit
Israel and the West Bank each
year for study, tourism and busi-
ness. The Government of Israel
and the Palestinian Authority
make considerable efforts to
protect U.S. citizens and other
visitors to major tourist desti-
nations, the State Department
advisory says.
According to the centers secu-
rity update, The area around the
Center remains calm and quiet;
students will continue with their
regular academic and planned
co-curricular activities through
Saturday: Tomorrow (Friday)
is an instructional day, and stu-
dents will be at the Center. Satur-
day is the Sabbath, and students
will be at the Center. Decisions
regarding activities on Sunday
and beyond will be made later by
Jerusalem Center administra-
tion and security personnel, who
continue to monitor security mat-
ters closely.
Mark A. Philbrick/BYU Photo
BYU Jerusalem Center exterior and Old Jerusalem. Students and faculty have been using an in-house
bomb shelter as a precaution against rocket attacks this past week.
6 The Universe, July 15 21, 2014