Level Up

Article taken from the Huntingtonian
By Thad Arnold | Editor-in-Chief

Their eyes are fixed to their screens. But these students are not just mindlessly staring. Their fingers move across keyboard and mouse in a flash. Quips, commands, and strategies are spoken rapid-fire style into a headset microphone. And still their eyes never leave the screen.

The Friday practice for the Huntington University esports "Overwatch" team is in full swing.

One player seems more relaxed than the others. You can tell he's comfortable in this room—comfortable in his own skin. He offers strategy advice to the other players. No observer would be surprised to find out he's an integral member of HU esports.

2023 HU graduate Zachariah Lail has been hired as the new esports director for the 2023-2024 academic year. As a student in 2021, Lail convinced the university administration to start an esports program. For the past two years he has played on the "Overwatch" team as well as put in countless extra hours outside of playing to help make his dream of an esports program a reality. Now, in his new role, he hopes to do even more for the program, hoping to bring on even more wins and—more importantly—a place for students to feel included.

When Lail visited HU as a prospective student over four years ago, he learned about a video game club on campus. After learning his freshman year that that club no longer existed, he became determined to bring the club or something similar back.

Lail began contacting administration, hoping to get his video game club up and running. But the conversation soon evolved from a casual club into the growing world of collegiate esports, or competitive video games.

Cora Kennedy has been the full-time director of esports at Illinois Wesleyan University since 2021. Illinois Wesleyan's esports program was listed by BestColleges as the fifth best in the nation for 2022.

"Admin sees dollar signs because they see this as a lower investment threshold than traditional athletics," Kennedy explained in a Zoom interview. "Instead of building a basketball arena, you buy ten computers and call it done."

Even though he worried that the competitive nature of esports might turn away more casual gamers, Lail realized that competitive edge might be what he needed for the university to buy into the program.

Plans soon began to unravel into the fall of 2021, when a space in Miller basement was chosen to function as the esports room.

During his time as a student, Lail put in about eight to ten hours a week of his time to the esports program. Besides just playing, he devoted himself to advocating for the program, recruiting other players, and figuring out what practices would look like. Lail, a part-time graphic designer, even helped determine the branding for the program.

Hudson Winters, Lail's former suitemate on Baker 2nd, remembers working with him to create the logo for the program. Winters, a junior, joined the esports team the fall of his freshman year.

"We would stay up to—probably irresponsible hours of the night," Winters says. "Like four or five in the morning. Just trying to get to a point where we were like 'This is something we're really proud of.'"

Like any competitive program, esports requires a high level of intentionality and practice. Senior captain of the "Overwatch" team Ericka Whitman has been playing on her own for over five years, says she can tell the difference after not playing for a while.

"There's so much rustiness," Whitman says. "I was extremely rusty coming into this season."

Whitman is responsible for scheduling scrims with other esports teams. These are essentially practice matches with "Overwatch" teams of about the same skill set.

According to Lail, other practices involve simply running "drills" for games. Others involve watching replays of their own gameplay (video-on-demand or VOD reviews) in order to understand what went right and what went wrong.

"It doesn't matter if we won or lost," Whitman says. "We still go over it and see if there's anything we can improve upon."

Whitman says the difference in the program since Lail was hired as esports director has been like "night and day." Knowing their director has been in their shoes as a student helps the players stay motivated.

"Him having that experience as a student and then coming in with the drive to make things better and with the knowledge he has," Whitman says. "It's been so tight knit."

Esports takes communication, teamwork, and lightning-paced decision making. Players must also be aware of the mechanics of the game and how to use their character's strengths to their advantage.

Lail has made it so that one practice a week is devoted to individual skill development. He also had all his "athletes," as he calls them, sign a form outlining his expectations for them, such as coming to all practices and games unless they notify the director. He wants his players to be aware that this is not just a club.

"That's why I call my players 'athletes'" Lail says. "They're putting eight-ten hours a week into their sport, right?"

For Lail's parents, Paul and Patty Lail, his involvement in esports comes to little surprise. His mother recalls having to set a timer to limit his time playing computer games when he was younger.

Even from a young age, Lail's parents recall him trying to convince them of the benefits of playing video games—the skills he was supposedly developing. While they might not have been fully convinced then, they were proud to learn that he got the job as esports director.

Paul Lail also claims his son's role as esports director also reflects another aspect of Lail's character: his desire to create inclusive spaces where people can feel like they belong.

"He used to do this in high school," Paul Lail explains in a phone interview. "Reach out to the new people. Reach out to the rejected people, reach out to the people that weren't popular and try to include them."

Kayla Metzger experienced Lail's knack for inclusivity first-hand. Lail was her Alpha Group leader during freshman orientation. Despite not being that into video games, Lail's passion inspired her to join last spring.

Metzger played on the soccer team her freshman year. She says one way the esports program differs from physical athletics is that the students have had to work to keep the program alive since it didn't have the legacy or support that traditional athletics might bring.

"It's a little tougher with our esports team being smaller," Metzger explains. "I think we all have this mutual understanding that we want be here for this program."

Metzger also recalls painting the esports broadcasting room with the other players.

"And even if some people were just hanging out and eating while other people were working or trading off or something," Metzger says. "That was an activity for esports that had us doing something other than gaming."

Lail sees the need to have a coherent team as an important aspect of the program. Teamwork is essential for most of the games played by the HU esports program. Without it, he argues, those other skills mean nothing.

"In traditional sports you see situations where teams get into playoffs or like the semifinals or the grand finals," Lail says. "Like really high stress games, right? And teams just flop."

Some may scoff at the idea of students devoting even more time to staring at screens, but Lail argues there's a level of risk in every competitive student activity, comparable to the risk of a concussion in playing football.

"I have an uncle that played volleyball for twenty years—and his knees got so bad even though he was exercising and doing athletics." Lail says. "He was very fit, obviously. But that was very straining on his muscles."

Lail admits that the strain of the eye muscles is a potential problem. But he also adds that the esports industry as a whole is moving in a direction of "prioritizing wellness" for players.

As director, he has been interested in keeping his players mental health in mind. Lail's major while at HU was in psychology and he wants to make sure esports is an uplifting experience and the competitive nature doesn't weigh players down.

Mental strain can affect almost everything related to what players are doing, from their in-game aim, to communication skills, to their self-esteem.

Lail argues the skills esports encourages such as cooperation and communication make up for any risk. He also sees the esports program as providing a home for students who might not otherwise find a way to be involved on campus.

"This program brings together a demographic of people that is stereotypically isolated." Lail says. "And then it brings them into a communal space where they can actually use the thing that would have otherwise isolated them together."

Lail's Christian faith also finds its way into the esports room. He holds esports devotionals and tries to have them pray before matches. And while he admits it may not be the "most Christian" space on campus, he says he still sees it as a place where people can show and experience unconditional love.

Right now Lail is only working part-time, but the expectation is for his position to become full-time starting next year. He says that he intends to stay in the position for at least the next couple years. After that, he might look into working on his master's.

Even if his career as esports director isn't permanent, Lail maintains he still loves his job :

"The fact that I get to manage this team, play games that I love, and be able to coach them through their games—and do that four days a week is super awesome. Super fun."