~ Open house will feature Dr. Joey Gawrysiak ~
It’s game on at Paul D. Camp Community College as it introduces the public to its latest addition to the athletics program.
The new e-sports arena, located at the Hobbs Suffolk Campus at 271 Kenyon Road, is ready for players. An open house is planned for Saturday, July 25, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
“We are going to be open for gaming business soon,” said Hurricanes e-Sports Sponsor Dr. Joe Edenfield. “The completed gaming arena is awesome.”
The new arena features state-of-the-art HP Omen computers to enhance the gaming experience, as well as broadcasting equipment to allow tournaments to be streamed.
“We plan to lead up to the open house event with a FIFA tournament,” said Edenfield.
The open house will be highlighted by a question-and-answer session led by Dr. Joey Gawrysiak, the director of e-sports and founder of the varsity e-sports team at Shenandoah University.
According to the university’s website, Gawrysiak’s fields of expertise lie in e-sport and competitive video gaming; video gaming; sport and media; Major League Baseball and baseball history; global aspects of sport; and race and sport.
Gawrysiak is known throughout national and international e-sports, appearing on podcasts, radio shows and even a cruise line. He has presented at several gaming and sport management events, including the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand and the Music and Gaming Educational Symposium. Gawrysiak has written several articles on e-sports and is in the process of creating a chapter for the first textbook dedicated to e-sports. He has hosted e-sports tournaments and served as a guest lecturer and consultant for several universities, as stated on su.edu.
Accompanying Gawrysiak will be student Kyler Apgar, former varsity Overwatch player, who is earning his MBA.
“We will be adding speakers as we work to finalize the event,” said Edenfield, “and those will include some competing student e-athletes who will help answer any questions from their experiences.”
“These are really exciting times for us at Camp,” said Edenfield. “Not only as far as seeing our arena come to fruition, but also the NJCAA recently announced its fall semester slate of games at its Summer Virtual Conference. We intend to recruit for and participate in all eight of these collegiately competitive games.”
According to Edenfield, the slate is as follows:
- CS:GO - PC
- Hearthstone - PC
- Overwatch - PC
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Switch
- Madden - PS4
- Rainbow Six: Siege - PC
- Rocket League - PC
- Valorant - PC
The college will follow state guidelines/mandates including maintaining social distance and requiring face masks.
For more information or to join the Hurricanes, email eSports@pdc.edu.