E-SPORTS AT FRESNO STATE

Baseball, basketball, and soccer are traditional sports that Fresno State offers. However, there is another kind of sport that you can play on campus that involves your video game console.

Pre-nursing major Ricky Vang is the president of the Nexus E-Sports Club. He’s been playing competitive video games since he was a little kid.

“Even though, my parents would limit me, I still got to play a lot. I made sure that my education is first,” said Vang.

E-sports and video game competitions have been increasing in popularity at Fresno State over the past decade. Now the Nexus club is 34 members strong and growing.

Vang said, “Sports are competitive. I think of e-sports the same way. It’s competitive online battle that you play that involves tournaments.”

But just because you play video games doesn’t mean that it’s considered e-sports.

“A YouTube that plays video games and earns money. I wouldn’t really consider them a e-sport player. I would consider one that who is playing pro and is part of a team or some sort of organization,” said Vang.

When it comes to playing pro, it all depends on your team. Club vice president Jonathen Marin says that means choosing the right teammates.

“We’re still trying to complete the roster. Some people drop out. Some people just don’t have the time, so trying to find the roster is the first step,” said Marin.

The Fresno State team competed in a tournament in late 2018, but didn’t make it to the semi-finals.

“It was the first time trying something like that. Not finishing last was a win for me,” said Marin.

Just like a sports team, they are all in this together. The Nexus E-sports Club is busy recruiting members and training for next season. They’ll compete again in the fall, hoping this time to make it into the playoffs.