Duncan Sweeney enters his seventh yearas the esports coach.

Sweeney’s father a WBU history professor and faculty athletics representative Dr. Kevin Sweeney, served as team sponsor. More than 15 WBU students regularly practiced and came together once a week to test their skills against other club teams.

Wayland’s esports lab will be housed near WBU’s IT department in the basement of the Mabee Learning Resources Center in the center of campus.

A 2011 graduate of Plainview High School, Sweeney said he grew up playing online games.

“I’ve been playing games since I was 3-years-old. It’s just been kind of natural for me,” he said. “Then once I found out there were competitions, I started investing my time in that.”

Sweeney said he’s won “probably close to 10” tournaments in Plainview and Lubbock. Last year he competed in Evo (Evolution Championship Series), an annual esports tournament in Las Vegas that focuses on fighting games and draws thousands of competitors from around the world.

Sweeney worked at Plainview’s GameStop for the past 8½ years, regularly organizing and running tournaments. After being hired as WBU’s esports coach, Sweeney resigned his managerial position with the local retailer.

Sweeney earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Wayland Baptist University in 2021.

In addition to coaching, Sweeney – a member of First Presbyterian Church –. (He sings and plays guitar, regularly performing at coffee shops and restaurants locally and in Wolfforth with his father).