WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – There will be a new kind of student-athlete coming to Jefferson Community College, one that uses controllers and computers to compete. The school is working to renovate an old computer lab with the hopes of joining the esports scene.
A room inside Jefferson Community College’s Jules Center is the future home of a state of the art esports lab. But you might not be able to tell even if you were standing right in front of it.
“That’s what this is?” said Padraic Williams, a student at JCC.
But after a renovation, it could like like the esports labs at St. Lawrence University and SUNY Canton.
JCC Director of Athletics, Jeff Wiley, says his school will officially join the world of collegiate video game competition too, and play other National Junior College Athletic Association programs.
“We’ll be like the fourth or fifth school within our conference that will participate in esports,” Wiley said.
JCC plans to put together an esports team for different games, but needs a place for them to play. That’s where the new esports lab comes in.
Wiley says it will have 24 gaming computer setups. An exciting concept for the athletics department.
“I think you’re going to see a lot more student-athletes on our campus,” Wiley said.
Williams thinks it will be attractive for students too.
“It’s nice to see JCC is doing something that gives more students opportunity to have fun,” Williams said. “I would definitely be interested in trying out. I wouldn’t be disappointed if I didn’t make it.’
Students can find info about JCC’s esports team on the school’s athletics website.
Wiley says the lab should be done by the fall semester and the school is expecting to compete in the next NJCAA esports season in Spring of 2023.
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