The Esports club, founded in 2015, houses a community of people who play games casually and participate in team tournaments, offering an open door for anyone who wants to join.
Tomer Dagan, Esports president, has been with the club since his first year at WSU. He started on the junior varsity roster of League of Legends and has since climbed the ranks. Dagan is very passionate about how the club has formed a community, citing that it has created roommates and life-long friends.
“Fostering this community means a lot to me because we’ll get those people who will come up to me and say, ‘Yeah, I didn’t plan on leaving my dorm room at all this semester outside of classes, but you got me to go to events and meet people,’” Dagan said.
Another club member, Bitna White, has been on the League of Legends team for four years. She also claims the club has fostered connections she will never forget.
“I really like that we have the same interests there; it’s really easy to get to know people,” White said. “Being on a team, everyone gets really close. It’s been really great for me.”
The club itself contains many students, averaging around 2,000 people in its Discord server and a peak of more than 200 students at events.
It also includes around 50 to 60 competing students who often qualify for larger tournaments. However, Dagan says that it can be hard to find funding for participants.
“Some of these teams are playing three to four times a week together, just riding three hours straight a night,” Dagan said. “They’ll qualify for this amazing event and we’ll have to turn them down due to lack of funding.”
The club recently had a fundraiser on CougStarter to help its competition funding, and is looking to expand its viewership on streams.
Along with competitions, if you find yourself on the Chinook’s ground floor and hear buttons clacking, you might be right outside the ESports Lounge.
This area includes 36 PC’s and an array of games available with prior purchase required. Some console games are even available to check out and take home.
While you do not have to be an avid member of the club to use the lounge, club members encourage interested Cougs to join events and connect, no matter their gaming skill set.
“If anyone’s ever worried about showing up or not being good, please still show up and hang out. It can be casual, you make out of it what’s good,” White said.
To see what events the club is planning, or how to support their teams, you can find them on Discord, Instagram, Twitch and X.
