Just a few months after Franklin Community Schools announced its launch of an esports club, Franklin College announced it will do the same.
Franklin College intends to start competing against other colleges during the spring semester of the 2020-21 school year. The college has not decided if it will compete as a club or varsity sports team. If students compete in a club setting, they will likely compete in smaller tournaments several times a year against regional colleges. As a varsity sports team, however, it would get the chance to compete in national tournaments as part of the National Association of Collegiate eSports, said Tim Garner, the college’s associate vice president for institutional analytics and special projects.
Both Garner and Chief Information Officer Larry Stoffel wanted to start an esports program at Franklin College after seeing the success of the programs at other Indiana colleges, such as Butler University, Tryon University and Indiana Tech, Garner said.
“We had interest in this area for a number of years, as we’ve seen esports gain prominence globally … in the (K-12) sector and in higher education,” Garner said. “We thought it would be a great opportunity for Franklin College.”
Esports has gained steam in recent years and become lucrative for players at the highest levels. In 2019, the winner of the Fortnite World Cup collected $3 million in prize money. The tournament’s final rounds were held at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City.
Franklin College will look at some of the smartest minds in fields such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, commonly known as STEM, to form both the coaching staff and the students who will compete, Stoffel said.
“The players coming into esports are high-ranked academically; it’s not the stereotype of ‘I live in my mother’s basement and play games all day,’” Stoffel said. “High schools are recruiting STEM students into the esports programs, so these people are really intelligent, have a well-rounded life and are interested in academics and esports.”
The college will hold interest meetings for students sometime during the fall semester, and will begin practices during the spring semester. College officials plan to house esports operations in an existing building on campus, though that building hasn’t been named yet, he said.
