Clubs are a fantastic way for someone to meet like-minded people at a large-scale university such as Iowa State. One of the most popular clubs at Iowa State is the Gaming & Esports Club.
With over 2,000 members on the club’s Discord server, it is among the largest clubs on campus. According to club president Nova Stiles and senior studying technical communication, the club has gained roughly 200 new members since the end of the spring 2024 semester.
The club was initially founded in 2013 under the title “Game Renegades” and went under the moniker until 2019, when it was rebranded to “The Gaming & Esports Club.” 2024 marks the club’s sixth year as an official club recognized by the university.
The club consists of different levels of competition. Members can try out for the competitive teams participating in nationwide tournaments with other schools.
If someone is not into the competitive scene, they are encouraged to play whatever games they enjoy. That is the perk of having over 600 active members participating in server activities every week. Club members can play any game you like, and chances are there will be others who share the same interests as you.
“When people see a gaming club, they think it is just video games,” said computer science senior Nolan Brown. “These people are more than that, with various hobbies and lifestyles.”
Those who compete in tournaments are usually the most involved, practicing twice a week with their teammates. These practices consist of playing recorded scrimmage games that they review after, similar to a football team watching the film of their practices or games.
Every game has an assigned coach that determines who plays in each level. These coaches oversee the tryouts to find the perfect players to fit their teams. They aim to assemble a varsity and junior varsity team for their sport. The main games with competitive teams are Overwatch, Call of Duty, Valorant, Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege and Apex Legends.
Competitions are typically held online from each player’s own setup. Once or twice during the semester, the teams will play an in-person tournament at other schools. The schools they play against are a part of the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC).
The online tournaments take place over the course of the semester, consisting of pool play to determine seeding. Some tournaments have a payout for placements, but some are just for fun.
This competition is what the players enjoy so much about the club. It is a different level of competition than a normal game that one would be playing on their own.
“It may take a second to get comfortable talking to people, but once you give it a moment, it will be a lot of fun,” said Andres Garcia, a sophomore in computer engineering.
Garcia has been a part of a few different teams over his two semesters with the club. He is currently on the Varsity Overwatch crew after spending last year on the Apex Legends Academy team. He found the club at Clubfest at the beginning of his freshman year and joined immediately, and has been an important part of two teams now.
Senior Ian Burger has spent a few years in the club as well. He has played for two different competitive teams during his time in the club.
Burger used to play Junior Varsity (JV) for the Valorant group and Varsity for the Rainbow Six Siege team. He enjoyed the Local Area Network (LAN) events that were held at Beyer Hall because they have a nice setup and he was able to see his teammates in person when normally, he would be behind the screen. One of his favorite aspects of being on a competitive team was the game-planning they had to do as a group before a match.
“Similar to sports, a team could just be mechanically better than you, so you have to look for a strategic way to counteract that skill gap,” Burger said. “When I was making starts for Valorant JV, it would take me hours to think of all the possibilities and how to best counter them.”
The club has had a few members who graduated to play for professional Esport teams. Alexander Shepard and Zach Harvey have both made solid gaming careers for themselves.
Shepard has amassed approximately $5,000 playing with the team Citrus Nation over the last few years. Harvey is currently playing Overwatch for NTMR and has raked in just over $16,000 in prize money.
Many other club members have stories like this, and some have different ways they got into the gaming scene. There are over 2,000 people who spend days and nights playing games and enjoying hobbies with friends they may not have met if they hadn’t joined a club like this one.
