BYU is home to a thriving community of those who wish to delve into competitive gaming, also known as esports. Currently one of the largest clubs on campus, the BYU Esports Club provides opportunities for students to meet, interact with, support, and play with others who share their love for gaming and esports.
Club president, BYU senior TJ Maxwell, feels the club helps create an environment that people can trust, feel supported, and just have a good time in. “Being president of the club, it’s incredibly satisfying to help new students find this community, and it’s like they’re a part of the family now, meeting new people and trying new things,” Maxwell said. “That was how I came to find the club; I joined with my friends and gained a support network there and came to be a part of the club and wanted to give that same kind of support to others.”
The club gives a much-needed outlet for members to bond with others about their favorite games and to simply play with people they know and love rather than playing alone.
“A lot of the games in the club are team-based, and the club acts as a hub, a launch pad of sorts, that can help you find people who play your games,' said club member and BYU sophomore Jason Taylor. 'Solo-grinding sucks, so finally having a place to just go and play with people I knew was so nice. It's another thing to bond over, not everyone wants to talk about the latest football game.'
Even beyond the innate social aspect of the club, it has provided a place for members to help keep each other accountable and aware of their own well-being.
“The point when I found the club and started playing more games with my friends completely changed the trajectory of my mental health and was a huge turning point in my life,' Maxwell said.
“What matters is finding people who you can trust and surrounding yourself with those people and building a community and just regulating the time you spend on the hobby. That’s what gaming is, it’s a hobby. People say it’s a plague or an addiction, but with a community, you can regulate that together,” Maxwell said. “When I’m playing with my friends, it feels like we can all hold each other accountable and have that social aspect and awareness of yourself.”
“Video Games are something that comfort me through difficult points in my life,' said club officer and BYU sophomore Nara Stott. 'Despite everything that was happening, I was still able to hop on and play games and forget about some of those bad things for a moment and play with my friends,” she said. “Finding people in the esports club who might be in the same situation as you can help you to know that you’re not alone.'
The club also helps players escape the often-toxic nature of playing with random people online.
“As a girl in the gaming community, when it comes to gaming online with random people, it’s a struggle sometimes,' Stott said. 'There are people who think girls shouldn’t play games and they will just assume things about me just off my voice in-game. However, when I came to BYU and came to the club, it felt really nice because the people here are very welcoming and open, and there was no judgment,' she said.
Most members of the club also have a strong competitive drive, something that is reflected in the games that many play. As the club’s name suggests, esports are competitively engrained in its community.
“Without an end goal and without a team, eventually you just lose a reason to play, but with something to play for it just makes everything better,” said club officer and BYU senior Khai Hirschi. “I had a team in high school, that I used to play with and I was planning to end up in esports wherever I was going to college. When I got to BYU, I looked up what kind of esports options were available and found the club,” he said.
Members of the club often seek out ways to play their games in the most competitive way possible and enjoy the thrill of playing with a team to win.
“While they are games, I think they’re really beneficial for those people who may not be athletic but have a competitive spirit and want to win,' Stott said. 'We’re just people who wish we could be on a team and compete just like any other sport on campus.'
With this in mind, however, the club runs into a problem. As a BYU club, the Esports club is subject to BYUSA regulations which state that “BYUSA clubs are not allowed to engage in any level of competition with other academic institutions, sporting entities, organizations, or groups and should not represent BYU as an entity for any competition,” (BYU Clubs and Associations Policy, pg.2). As such, the Esports Club is not allowed to formally assemble any teams in any game that can compete at any level outside of the university.
Members of the club find themselves understandably frustrated by this. “Let us compete, BYU,' Maxwell said. 'Give us the ability to compete at a higher level. Even if it’s just that we can use the BYU name. We don’t need funding or big facilities, we just want to be recognized. There are so many benefits that could come from an official esports organization that would help so much of the community.'
'I think an esports program could help bring more eyes and school spirit,' said Young Ho Choi, a BYU accounting student and League of Legends North American Challengers League champion. 'BYU isn't really supporting esports and that doesn't make sense to me. It is a very real and big thing and I think schools should at least try to have a program of some kind,' he said.
“I hate telling people that we can’t compete as a part of BYU,' Hirschi said. 'I think, honestly, it impacts what schools some high schoolers choose to go to. By not having an esports program, or at least not being able to compete, these kids choose to go elsewhere in order to be able to do that,” he said. “There are lots of other universities that have teams for esports, and I wish we could represent our school in the collegiate scene against them. I think BYU is definitely hesitant, but I hope to see it happen in the future.”
Though they are left waiting for such a day, the club continues to focus internally and positively influence the gaming and esports community.
“Our hope is to help remove the stigma that surrounds gaming and competitive gaming. Why do we have shame surrounding it when it can be healthy and a normal hobby?' Maxwell said. 'We want to help make it so those who might struggle with their gaming habits won’t feel so alone and could have teams around them and see them self-regulate and use it as motivation to help themselves.'
'We have the chance to be a light in this area, in this larger, global community,' he said.
“We as a university and club have the opportunity to find members of the church who play games and be a light, to set an example of regulation and Christ-like love inside of gaming, which is something that is, quite honestly, rare in random lobbies online.'