Waukesha County Technical College invests in $700,000 esports facility, future students

Ian Sheeley, 26, is like many people in his generation: Growing up, his mom never knew he would — or even could — have a career in video games.

But now it’s his job to coach esports teams, adding Waukesha County Technical College to the growing list of about 30 colleges and universities across Wisconsin with competitive video gaming teams, according to the Milwaukee Esports Alliance.

For those schools, esports presents a recruitment opportunity: Many prospective students grew up not just playing video games, but identifying with gaming as a culture. It’s one reason — along with anticipated enrollment increases — many colleges and universities are investing thousands of dollars into new esports facilities.

“The impact that the students have had on esports, it cannot be understated,” Sheeley said as students wandered in to WCTC's new $700,000 esports lab on a recent Friday afternoon. “It's an open door policy, 100%.”

The new gaming space is open to the more than 18,500 students enrolled at WCTC. It's blue and gray, in keeping with the college's team colors, and sports 18 Alienware Aurora R15 gaming stations and a sea of high-backed gaming chairs carrying the team’s logo and owl mascot.

Although competitive gaming has grown substantially across Wisconsin in the past decade, gamers today say there's a long way to go to catch up with the trend across the U.S. Sheeley wants esports to be as competitive and rivalry-filled as any Wisconsin football game.

Founded in 2016, the nonprofit National Association of Collegiate esports has more than 240 member schools and $16 million in available for college players. The Milwaukee Bucks launched their own esports team, Bucks Gaming, in 2017. Half of Wisconsin’s 16 tech colleges have esports teams, as do most UW System campuses.

For many gamers, facts about the sport's expansion are in the periphery. And that might explain why it’s so successful: It’s just fun.

More: Wisconsin tech school enrollment is gradually rebounding after pandemic

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Brodi Kolsinski, 18, joined WCTC’s esports team this fall because it made sense: He already spends time on campus taking classes toward an associate’s degree in tool and die making. He's not surprised by the growth of competitive gaming, given he remembers playing video games for the first time, on a Wii, at age 3.

But he’s never won money playing competitively, nor is he particularly motivated by it — even though pro players can make five- or six-figure earnings — or even more. That’s all “just a bonus."

“It’s really fun, that's all,” he said. “I just want to play.”

Kolsinski is an example of a type of student who colleges are looking to recruit. While he didn’t come to campus for esports, he’s more likely to stick around if he’s part of a broader community there, similar to students who play football, act in theater or play in the orchestra.

Brandon Tschacher, a former employee of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, founded the Milwaukee Esports Alliance in 2020, an organization that advocates for esports' expansion in Wisconsin. Part of his pitch for college and universities looking to add programs is this: relevancy. Most people have some sort of experience with video games, he said, even if it’s just playing Candy Crush.

“I say it sort of cavalierly, but it really is a change in the way the world operates. Thirty years ago, it wasn’t the case,” he said.

But he also pointed out that colleges have a financial stake in investing in esports. Most of the return on investment could be measured by enrollment, he said. Someday schools could make money through scholarships and sponsorships, but that's still a long way out.

Tschacher described esports as the beginning of an industry, the same as football, basketball, baseball and more. Nike, for example, signed an esports apparel deal in 2019.

So he said for schools, the pitch is clear: Get in now, or fall behind.

“I’m not saying there’s going to be football stadiums filled in the next 10 years,” Tschacher said. “But (esports) is going to have its place, and your ability to be there, be a leader and grow it, gives you the same opportunity people had with basketball in 1910.”

Sheeley: Wisconsin sports don't just have to include Badgers and Packers

Sheeley isn't fazed by common criticisms of gaming. He's been asked before about worries that some games promote violence, or that gaming turns people into "couch potatoes." He tries to take those opinions with a grain of salt, and to focus on the positives.

Everyone in WCTC's esports lab that day, he pointed out, was gaming together in groups and laughing. He wants students to have an “authentic want for extracurriculars,” where anyone feels welcome to join.

"It's not like I’m out there, in the courtyard every day saying ‘please come to my esports lab,’” he said.

So far, he hasn't needed to. About 100 people joined the team’s discord channel, the chat app used by gamers, since the team formed last month.

Sheeley also hopes to create a "pipeline" of high school students who want to come to WCTC for its esports program. The Wisconsin High School Esports Association has 186 member schools statewide.

As head coach at WCTC, Sheeley’s task is to build competitive teams by taking into consideration a player’s rankings, performance at tryouts and communication skills. There are also “intangibles,” like being able to work as a teammate and being open to development and criticism.

So far, 35 students actively practicing for Super Smash Bros. and Rocket League teams. The college intends to expand its teams to more “titles,” or games, like Valorant, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS-Go), Apex Legends, Overwatch, League of Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty, FIFA, Fortnite and chess.

The “heart and soul” of collegiate esports are local action network (LAN) tournaments, Sheeley said, or when players get together in person to play local rivals.  His idea is to build the same sort of rivalry between colleges and universities in Wisconsin that exists between football teams. He said Wisconsin doesn’t just need to be home to Packers and Badgers fans.

“It’s great to see that we’re beginning something here, as far as competition goes,” he said.

Cleo Krejci covers higher education, vocational training and retraining as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. Support her work with a tax-deductible donation atbit.ly/RFADonation.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Over two dozen colleges, universities in Wisconsin have esports teams