MIDLAND, Texas — Esports is an industry growing across the world, but here in the Permian Basin the Midland College esports team is mostly a grassroots organization.
The school's Nova Club - the primary gaming club for Midland College - began stepping into the competitive scene last fall semester when the Dean of Student Life, Wendy Kane, gave clearance to Associate Professor of English Andrew Latham to assist with the club.
While the team and club have maintained a loyal and steadfast following, they are still actively recruiting members.
Jessica Ordonez, Nova Club's president, says that the club mostly recruits by getting the word out to other students.
“(It's) mostly through word of mouth, we mostly tell people about our club and then they come in," Ordonez said. "We recently moved it to Thursdays because there is more foot traffic on Thursdays instead of Fridays. We also have posters around the school to hopefully to get people interested in coming.”
So far, the team is planning to start competitive intramurals with games such as Rocket League and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.
To continue growing, Latham and others have reached out to sponsors both within Midland College and the outer Permian Basin area to keep building the club.
“What we are specifically doing is reaching out to people who play e-sports and people that run e-sports tournaments and things like that. We are asking them, what do you need from us to support you?" Latham said. "That’s really gone into how we designed and prepared our materials and how we are trying to build this in a responsible and sustainable way.”
However, at the end of the day, whoever wins and whoever loses doesn't matter.
The club and the team give Midland College students a place to be with friends and to share their interest in gaming... with a little trash talk mixed in for good measure.
“Because so many of them don't necessarily know that there's a whole host of people who share their same interests," Latham said. "So one of the reasons why I've tried to keep the club going and I've tried to keep all these events happening is that it gives those students a place to belong, it gives them a sense of friendship, a sense of camaraderie.”