E-Sports match (image courtesy: Elise Fasano)

The SNHU Esports Arena is up and running. Varsity teams for Valorant, League of Legends, Rocket League, and Super Smash Bros have begun their season this fall. So far, the teams have competed in the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) against other universities in the nation. 

The Valorant teams Blue and Yellow are both 1-3, and are looking to secure some wins in upcoming matches. Meanwhile, the Super Smash Bros teams started strong with a 3-0 score for the Blue team and 1-2 for the Yellow team. The Rocket League and League of Legends teams are also at 3-0.  

Colby ‘Cdubs’ Fox (‘23), a varsity player on the Valorant Blue team, shared his thoughts on the NECC season.  

“1-3 is a tough start, but looking at our round differential, I’m hopeful. Our wins [have been easy], and our losses have been super close, so if we can just tighten up then I see no reason why we won’t go far this season,” said Fox. 

Sean ‘Peachy’ Lightbody (‘24), a Valorant Yellow player, also gave his thoughts on how the season is going.  

“Our season has had a lot of bumps, but I think with the right system in place, we can get back on track,” said Lightbody. “[There were] a lot of silly mistakes and protocols that have cost us a lot of rounds. Ironing those out with the team will take a lot of time but I’m hopeful we can pull through.” 

According to the official NECC schedule, SNHU Blue and SNHU Yellow have four more matches out of this eight-week portion. 

The Esports team live streams their matches every night on Twitch. On Monday, they stream Valorant, Tuesday is Super Smash Bros, Wednesday is League of Legends, Thursday is Overwatch, and Friday is Rocket League. While open hours at the arena close at 5pm, it remains open for students to watch the team in person. 

Avery Bertrand
My names Avery, I'm a freshman here at SNHU. I'm studying Computer Science, and I'm going to be starting a concentration in Cybersecurity. I write articles about SNHU Esports, as well as other things on campus. I work as an Arena Technician in the Esports Arena as well. I enjoy games too, such as Overwatch, Minecraft, Phasmophobia and many more. Looking to contact me? You can email me at avery.bertrand@snhu.edu Or, add me on Discord: averwhy#3899