Cannoneers add esports to JCC athletic offerings with renovated arena

Aug. 12—WATERTOWN — Sanctioned by the National Junior College Athletic Association in early 2022, esports has come to Jefferson Community College as its newest competitive collegiate team sport.

In preparation for the fall semester's inaugural teams, the college showed off its newly renovated esports arena Thursday: a custom, wall-to-wall branded arena on the top floor of the Jules Center that features gaming stations, aerodynamic gaming chairs, three 70-inch TV monitors and Alienware software. Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony, attendees had the chance to see gamers in action while college representatives provided tours of the arena and shared information on the upcoming esports season.

"Today's a special day on campus to embark on a new adventure with esports," said Daniel J. Dupee II, JCC's administrator in charge. "Jefferson's strategic plan is centered around four pillars, and with one of those being the student experience, introducing an esports program is focused squarely on enhancing the student experience here at Jefferson."

Students can battle with the Cannoneers and earn college credits playing games like NBA 2K, Call of Duty, FIFA 21, Fortnite, Madden NFL 21, Overwatch, Valorant and more in the new arena.

According to Mr. Dupee, because JCC did this renovation internally with facility staff, the college ended up putting about $65,000 into the arena for carpeting, painting, graphics on the walls, the countertops and other cosmetic details. The big expense was the gaming equipment, which he said involved a roughly $4,500 a setup. The renovation took about four months.

"I think this is a great opportunity for the campus to engage with our students more, and I think it's a great opportunity for our students to engage with one another more," Mr. Dupee said.

He said the college is looking at possibly allowing the community to utilize the space in various ways — a school district wanting to start an esports team, for example, could use the space for that purpose.

Jeff Wiley, director of athletics, said esports is the fastest growing sport within the NCAA and the NJCAA. Before the COVID-19 pandemic started, he toured a college that, at the time, had one of the best esports programs and facilities in the NCAA. He noted that he also attended numerous webinars and conferences, and with his own research and collaboration with colleges, helped put together a proposal for esports to come to the JCC campus.

"In fall '22, we'll be competing in the NJCAA esports leagues with games like FIFA, Hearthstone, Madden, Overwatch, Rainbow Six, Rocket League, Super Smash Brothers and Valorant in one of the best facilities — if not the best — among two-year colleges; it's phenomenal," he said.

The area that houses the new arena was a computer lab that was repurposed with gamers in mind. The back wall holds three 70-inch smart TVs that will primarily be used for consoles such as PlayStations, Nintendo Switches and Xboxes.

The Xboxes will mostly be used for recreational gaming for any student on campus who doesn't want to be in the competitive atmosphere but still wants to be part of the program. Competitive games like Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. will be played on the Nintendo Switches.

The arena also features 29 Alienware PCs, 12 generation i9 processors, 3090 RTX graphics cards, and 64 gigabytes of RAM so gamers will have more than they need when it comes to competitive gaming. The monitors also feature Logitech webcams as the college will be streaming competitive games online through the platform Twitch. Even the keyboards, mice and chairs in the arena were chosen to give the esports players a great gaming experience in a relaxing atmosphere.

"Gaming can be, despite some contrary opinions, very competitive," said esports head coach Joe A. Wargo. "It can be very stressful, so giving our athletes the most relaxing atmosphere that we could get them is perfect."

Mr. Wargo, a recent JCC graduate, is a former student-athlete and continued his sports management studies at SUNY Cortland. In the spring, he returned to JCC as an intern. While he was completing his internship, he researched what equipment the esports arena should have and recommended almost all of the equipment in the arena.

"For me, I've been gaming for 21 years of my life," Mr. Wargo said. "So to be able to do it at such a competitive level, from a college that I graduated from locally, it's just so awesome to be able to do it here, of all places."

He said the season will start the week of Oct. 3 and every game title goes for seven weeks. The playoffs will be an additional two weeks for championships. More than 35 esports interest forms were submitted over the summer, and the program has full rosters for five game titles already. Mr. Wargo clarified that rosters aren't necessarily full, as esports has the luxury of having an infinite amount of roster spots. People who want to participate will not be excluded, he said.

"It's an exciting time for JCC. We're able to offer our students the best of the best and a gaming experience that we can all be proud of and excited for," said Corey A. Campbell, vice president for student affairs. "This new arena will provide an opportunity for players to connect and compete with various institutions in a way that really elevates school pride and that Cannoneer spirit. One of the great aspects of the arena is that all students can participate within esports. And ideally this will attract new students and continue to improve our student connection and student retention."

First-year student Roberto I. Acevedo, who has years of gaming experience, played in the new arena Thursday morning. He said he is excited to be able to do this in college as he studies in the architectural engineering program. He said he and his teammates have already won a tournament for Rocket League and he has also signed up for Overwatch to be a substitute.

Leading up to the official season, the teams will have practices and scrimmages; it will work the same as any other sport, Mr. Wargo said.

"When you look at what makes a sport, it's all the same stuff — teamwork, conflict, strategies, communication," he said. "It might not be as physical as some people think of when you think of basketball or baseball or soccer, but every aspect that still makes a sport, a sport is here, especially the competition."

With gaming, he added, JCC can play against schools across the country. He said his hope for this inaugural season is to get as many people involved as possible.

"Gaming is fun at the end of the day, whether we win or lose," he said. "Gaming has been a big part of so many people's lives, for their entire life, so to be able to elevate that and play it at a competitive level and just enjoy it is what's gonna be fun."

Get involved

The student-athlete interest form, which includes esports, can be found online at bit.ly/3Qjays2.