St. Norbert’s newest student org is riding the wave as the League of Legends craze sweeps campus. “We’re looking to mimic support from the college that it gives other sports,” says the org’s vice-president Zachary Moede ’21, “... to support anyone that’s pushing for having fun in esports.”

SNC Plays eSports: Introducing the League of Legends Team

The newest of 105 student orgs on campus is bent on reviving the popularity of esports and positioning them for the same kind of strong support that the college offers its athletes.

In response to the student body’s increasing interest in League of Legends, Zachary Moede ’20, vice president of the SNC Esports & Gaming Association, is determined to restore this esport to college life, along with all video games that are played competitively.

Meeting bi-weekly throughout the spring semester, this newest student organization will host tournaments for League of Legends among other esports including Fortnite and Super Smash Bros.

Back in the day
By the time Moede arrived on campus an earlier informal esport club had dissolved. “I came in with the objective,” he says. “I’m like, all right, I’m going to see what I can do collegiately for League of Legends.”

During his first year at college, a group of students at various schools attempted to develop local tournaments at the game’s Division III level, but without community support they met little success. Moede says, “We already had a team … with a lot better players than I was at the time. So, I’m like, all right, let’s see if there’s any other things.”

This year a large number of people are eager for that kind of competitive buzz, Moede says, and want to help create it: “We want to take our passion and expand it to an actual official campus crew. We’re looking to mimic support from the college that it gives other sports … to support anyone that’s pushing for having fun in esports.

“I’ve been playing for four, five years now and you still get better every time you play. And it’s really just about putting [in] that time, dedication, and also being open to criticism. I’ve always been underneath someone and it’s a matter of listening, taking that critique and then implementing it.”

Presently, St. Norbert College offers a League of Legends Division I team and intends to collaborate with the Medical College of Wisconsin–Green Bay to host a community-wide League of Legends tournament in the spring semester.

In addition to the most current League of Legends craze, St. Norbert College’s super-vibrant Smash Bros. and Fortnite communities have accelerated tremendously over the past four years. Further tournaments will be held for these games in Moede’s hopes of bringing a lot of different people on campus together.

League of Legends explained
League of Legends was first released by Riot Games Inc. in 2007 and has since gained a worldwide following. More than 32 million people play per month. As a combination of an RTS (real-time strategy) and RPG (role-playing game), League of Legends features two online teams that battle head-to-head to destroy each other’s “nexus,” or homebase. Professionally, this esport highlights the world’s best players to compete in real time and in front of a crowd of fans.

March 8, 2019