Typically when one thinks of intramurals, one doesn’t imagine sitting down in a chair with a headset on, but in the new age of technology, these computer-warriors have entered new territory.
That’s what Bradley and Scott Wood, the assistant director of campus recreation, saw. They saw the growth of esports throughout the U.S. and also saw the growth of Bradley’s esport community on campus. That’s why he decided to team up with the Esport Committee on campus and start offering intramural opportunities.
“[The esports committee and I] meet up every other week to discuss esports, the different games and to figure out other games to offer” said Wood. “It’s a great partnership actually.”
It all started last spring when the coronavirus pandemic was in full swing. Ever since the beginning, the very covid-friendly sport has been primary run through the Bradley esport discord page. Players can report scores, talk and even stream through the app. Despite the apparent ease of participating, and the vast amount of users, the players who have participated in these intramurals have been hard to come by.
“They do it for fun, they do it with their club and so they may play other universities and so we say, ‘play intramurals’ and they say ‘why'” said Wood. “It just hasn’t resonated with that community yet.”
So then the question seems to be why hasn’t it connected with them? That question could be possibly answered by looking at what games are currently offered.
Rocket League – a soccer game incorporating cars – has been the favorite among students, but still is small when compared to other intramurals.
Through the three semesters the online intramurals have been run, only seven different games have been offered. Rocket League has been the most popular but still has a relatively small audience. Wood has been told by those in charge that adding first person shooter games would add a much bigger audience, but as of now, they have been held back from the intramural atmosphere.
“We don’t like to offer the first-person shooter games; however I have been told that this would get a lot of people involved” said Wood. “We just feel like that’s not appropriate to offer at this point.”
Among other reasons as to why they have not gotten off the ground could be that with the social distancing in place, it was hard for Wood and the intramurals to get their name out there like they normally do. For example with the Activities Fair being held primarily online, it was much harder for students to see them.
Even with that attention, it’s hard to understand what the student population would like to see offered without much feedback from the students themselves, and during a time where students are on a screen every day for class, they may be burnt out from seeing a screen all day.
“I think 95% of people play [esports] just to hang out and have fun with friends” said senior computer science major Logan Ross. “I think more like to play casually and not competitively.”
Wood understands that intramurals has “gotten to the party late” when it comes to esports. Nonetheless, Scott and staff have continued to work on the overall experience of the new intramurals and hope that others give it a chance.