eSports puts wrap on fourth season

Wayland's eSports program recently wrapped up its fourth season of competition which saw a record number of competitions that kept coach Duncan Sweeney directing his team on most days throughout the spring semester.

The Pioneers competed in Smash Bros., Fortnite, Hearthstone and Rocket League over the past few months.

"It was a tough season with all of our games running at the same time," Sweeney said.

WBU was slated to carry over its first-ever Chess competition from the fall, but Sweeney said the offering went from a 1v1 format to a four-person team "and we didn't have enough players."

The highlight of the semester for Wayland came in Fortnite where two two-person teams – Toby Reyes and Tony Sanchez, and Seth Hernandez and Rosalinda Rodriguez – qualified for nationals in both Build and Zero-Build formats. Out of 48 qualifiers, Reyes and Sanchez finished 28^th. A third team – Alli Ferguson and Justin Martin – also qualified for nationals in Zero Build.

In Smash Bros., Wayland's team of Devin Davis, Matthew Perry, Bailey Hair and Tate House just missed qualifying for nationals. The Pioneers ended the regular-season in fourth place, and only three qualified for nationals.

Sweeney points out that for the first time in the history of the WBU eSports program, the Pioneers carried a junior varsity squad in Smash Bros.

In other events last semester, the eSports team participated in Wayland's recent Seth Ward clean-up day where student-athletes performed such tasks as tearing down fences, painting and cleaning up clutter. "We had about 25 participants help out," Sweeney said.

Wayland also hosted an eSports Festival which drew 31 students to campus from Plainview, Hereford and River Road high schools. "They got to hear about NACE and what college eSports is all about as well as hear from professors about various degree programs," Sweeney said.

The high schoolers also were able to play games in the WBU eSports computer lab, the Meadows Mothership. "We had a tournament for them, and they all had a lot of fun. It was a great time."

Looking ahead to the 2023 fall semester, Sweeney said NACE already has announced some of the game offerings: Overwatch 2, Fortnite, Smash Bros. and Rocket League.

"We're looking at adding a new game, War Zone. That's never been played at Wayland before," Sweeney said.

The coach is planning an eSports summer camp for middle school students and is finalizing details on that event while also planning a wedding.

"I'm getting married this summer," Sweeney said.