George Fox Gamers Try Intramural eSports

By: Elijah Dapkus

Photographed by: Yolanda Diaz

This spring, Intramural Supervisor Rylee Guimont and Assistant Director of University Recreation Angel Glockling have teamed up to bring intramural eSports to the eSports Arena at George Fox University (GFU).

Guimont brings extensive eSports knowledge and a competitive, fun attitude to the table. In addition to his role as supervisor, he plays both League of Legends and Rocket League for GFU eSports. Guimont is excited to bring his background in video games to GFU intramurals.

Guimont teased a potential future for new intramurals. “Right now, what’s up in the air is Mario Kart, Overwatch, Halo, and Rocket League,” Guimont said. Other potential options include games from the FIFA, Madden, or NBA 2K franchises. “We even thought about Just Dance, just for the fun of it,” Gumont said. “We definitely want to include everybody. Some games can be more intimidating than others, and we want everyone to have a chance to get introduced to this.” GFU may also introduce fighting games such as Super Smash Bros and Injustice later on. They plan to start small and host about one tournament each month, but in the future they intend to run season-long competitions.

The eSports Arena aims to open itself to students outside of eSports training and match times, just like Stoffer Stadium is open outside of Football or Track and Field practices. It enables GFU students to create unofficial groups, a luxury no other Northwest Conference school has. “There’s nothing like this that I know of at an intramural stage [at other NWC schools],” Guimont said. The intramural status gives students a laid-back experience, free from the responsibilities or obligation that come with club membership. “[Participants] don’t need to do anything besides show up and play.”

eSports provides the same community-building opportunities as other intramural sports. In fact, one goal of the establishment is to encourage gamers to play outside of their dorm rooms and integrate into the community. “As part of the eSports team, I’ve been here three years and some of these guys I’ve never seen in my life. Now, I talk to them every single day… We can see the same thing with intramural eSports,” Guimont said. This intramural also seeks to destigmatize video games and show how fun and casual they can be.

Guimont is proud of GFU for creating this opportunity, and can’t wait to see where it takes the community. A plethora of gamers use the eSports arena every day. “We have a bunch of different personalities. We have old, we have young, we have men, women, they/them, we have everybody here,” Guimont said. He appreciates the diversity of the program and welcomes the next wave of players.

GFU intramural eSports plans to poll students to find out which games they would like to play, and they already tally participation at current events. If you would like to join the action or influence the future of the intramural, you can sign up to play through the eSports tab on GFU’s IMLeagues.com page.