Girls Who Game at Columbia College introduces girls to competitive gaming, game design

Characters chosen and weapons purchased, these middle school and high school girls got down to it.

The communication reached a fever pitch at times.

"All right, stand back, stand back," one girl shouts.

From another: "I can't. It's on cool down."

And for some unknown reason, the girls at one point break into singing the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" featured on Downy Rinse and Refresh commercials.

Some of the girls were playing Valorant and some playing Rocket League in the Game Hut at Columbia College. They're among the 20 girls participating in the college's Girls Who Game summer camp this week.

"We talk about killing a lot" in camp, said Lindsay Zeiter, Esports assistant coach at Columbia College. "It's not bad killing."

The students in the Game Hut learned gaming strategy and communication, she said.

"This group is working on fine-tuning their competitive gaming skills," Zeiter said.

Half the group was working on competitive gaming while others were working on game design and animation in another building, she said.

The camp's keynote speaker on Thursday was to be Jennifer Klasing, narrative designer with Crop Circle Games and formerly with Blizzard where she worked on the World of Warcraft design.

A chiropractor also visited to talk about things gamers need to know when seated for hours on end, Zeiter said.

"I am more excited about this year than I have been about any year before," Zeiter said.

About a third of the student gamers are from previous years' camps, she said, while two-thirds are new campers.

Among the camp workers are two graduates of the camp.

The camp has been offered since 2017, but Zeiter said they come up with new offerings each year for returning campers, to keep it fresh.

Instructing Valorant players was Jay Castro, of Bakersfield, Calif., on the Cougars' Esports team

"I think this is awesome," Castro said.

He previously instructed the girls on individual play.

"Today we're focusing on communication, on how to play together as a team," said Castro, 21. "They're communication where their enemies are."

He has played video games since he was three, he said.

"I got an opportunity to play here on a scholarship," Castro said. "That honestly turned my life around. It's really been life-changing."

He's majoring in psychology. There's a lot of psychology involved in gaming, he said.

"We start overthinking," Castro said. "That has a huge impact on our game play."

Some teams have esports psychologists, a potential future career field, he said.

The gaming isn't only on computers, Zeiter said. The campers also are learning Dungeons & Dragons.

"They're just loving it," Zeiter said. "They're having so much fun."

In another building, learning game design, was Zoe Beaston, 13, a rising eighth-grader at Jefferson Middle School, across the street from the Columbia College campus.

It's her first year at the camp, but she plans to return next summer, she said.

"I think it's really great," Zoe said. "It's great to meet a bunch of new people who like the same things you do."

She has made several new friends, she said.

She's learned a lot about game design and creating stories and music for games, she said.

Before camp, some of her favorite games were Minecraft and Gran Turismo 7.

"It's a racing game," Zoe said of Gran Turismo 7. "It's super fun."

Since she learned about Valorant at camp, she has added it to her repertoire.

"Me and my mom are going to play it this weekend," Zoe said of Valorant.

The camp seeks to help girls recognize opportunities open to them, said esports director Aaron Shockley.

"There's a lot of avenues I don't think a lot of students or parents have thought about" related to esports, Shockley said.

The camp ends Saturday with a closing ceremony in New Hall, during which campers will compete on teams against one another with their families and guests attending.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Girls Who Game camp at Columbia College brings gamers together