By Anthony Sturt
The Casper College Esports Club welcomes gamers of all skills levels regardless of whether they are more interested in competitive or casual play.
Austin Emmert, a business administration major who founded the esports club in the fall semester of 2023, serves as president of the club.
Emmert said, “ For our focus on our competitive side– it’s getting competitions for our players to play in– tournaments, online, in person, whatever that be. And then for our casual gamers, it’s giving them a safe space on campus for them to meet new people and play games.”
The esports club’s main competitive games are Overwatch, Valorant, and Rocket league, but club members are also interested in forming teams to play Rainbow Six: Siege and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. The club is not currently involved with a competitive gaming organization, but Emmert said that the club aspires to join the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Esports league.
“The biggest problem right now is paying that membership fee,” said Emmert.
The fee to join the NJCAA Esports league is $2,000, and the enrollment period is from July to June, according to the website.
Emmert stressed that players are not excluded from competitive play because of a lack of skill, and that players who want to improve are offered coaching by the more experienced players of the game in question.
“I coach our Rocket League team because I’m a top one percent player myself, and then our two top 500 players help coach the Overwatch team. So, there’s always opportunity for coaching to be had in esports (club),” said Emmert.
The esports club meets at 7 p.m. every other Wednesday for its bi-weekly game night. These events generally include party games like Jackbox, Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers, and others. The next club meeting is set for March 6, in room 207 of the Gateway Building, and the title played will be Wii Sports. Each meeting centers around a different game.
The club has a membership of 30 to 40 CC students, as well as students from high schools in the local area, a few from the University of Wyoming, and local community members.
Trevor Elijah, an officer in the esports club, said that the club worked with the college’s PR department to promote the club, and one method employed was to attach posters to all of the card readers in the dorms.
The Esports Club’s Overwatch team hosted Natrona County High School’s team for a best three of five match on February 6. CC’s Overwatch team won the event, and the two teams played several matches for fun after the fact. The event was live streamed at www.twitch.tv/caspercollegeesports.
Casper College’s Overwatch team is pictured above competing in a match against NCHS.
Players include (from left to right): Clifford Smith, Juliana Kahoun, Dustin Davis, Ozzy Ness, and Magus Dickinson.
Courtesy of Austin Emmert
Pictured above is the CC Esports Club Overwatch team playing against the NCHS Overwatch team on February 6. Team members, left to right, are Clifford Smith, Juliana Kahoun, Dustin Davis, Ozzy Ness, and Magus Dickinson.
Devin Fulton, the Student Life Coordinator for Casper College, recently came on board as a faculty advisor for the club. Fulton also serves as advisor to the Student Senate, which is how he initially became aware of the club last fall.
“Students like Austin Emmert and Trevor Elijah, just seeing them campaign for their own club, getting students to join their Discord, putting on events like this. It’s been awesome to see, especially from a Student Senate standpoint where we encourage clubs to be active on campus. These guys who just started back in September– they’ve been killing it on campus,” said Fulton.