Jefferson College has begun holding tryouts for a new esports team that will start competing next school year.
Greg Simos
Digital media technology professor Greg Simos, who will serve as the team’s head coach, said he started forming the squad at the end of the winter semester.
“We’re holding tryouts (now),” Simos said. “We’re also looking to have tryouts over the summer and during the fall semester.”
He said the Viking esports team members will compete individually or as part of groups in games like Halo, Fortnite, Call of Duty, Mario Kart, Madden NFL, NBA 2K, Super Smash Brothers and Rocket League.
“This gives an opportunity for more people to get on a team,” Simos said. “(Esports competition) is definitely growing in popularity in recent years. It’s growing everywhere, including our county.”
He said the Viking esports team will get off the ground in the 2024-2025 fall semester, with an eye toward competing as a National Junior College Athletics Association Esports (NJCAAe) team in the 2025-2026 school year.
“Mineral Area College started an esports team three years ago,” Simos said. “I’ve been in contact with their coach to see how they did it.”
All the team’s matches will be held online, and they will have two seasons to compete.
“It has a fall and a spring season,” Simos said. “Each season is eight weeks, with one match per week.
“We have a lab that has a game-playing component on the second floor of the Field House (on the Hillsboro campus). Most of the games will be streamed online (for fans to view).”
Simos said he hopes to find 25 players for the Viking team.
“We’re looking for things similar to traditional sports, such as dedication and being able to work as a team,” he said. “We’ll look at that and the game hours they’ve played. We’ll look at their rankings. Those are compiled in the games.”
Simos said he will seek to recruit players on campus, as well as those in high school.
“Some of the high schools have esports teams,” he said.
Simos said Jefferson College will provide Viking sports team members with a stipend to go toward their tuition.
“It’s going to happen, but the details are still to come,” he said.
The college will provide personal computers and gaming consoles for Viking esports players to use for practice, he added.
According to information supplied by Jefferson College, more than 3,000 students from 250 or so member schools are participating on esports teams.