Keiser University athletic department embraces Esports revolution
As Keiser University associate athletic director James Shoemaker walked into the NAIA National Convention four years ago, he sought out one presentation in particular — from NACE, or the National Association of Collegiate ESports.
Shoemaker's fellow directors struggled to understand his interest in the fledgling competition, believing that ESports "just isn't really a sport."
But the Keiser athletic department tuned out the cynical commentary of its contemporaries and heard the pulse of the athletic world's avant grade: competitive gaming.
The university transformed a vacant classroom on its flagship West Palm Beach campus into a state-of-the-art Esports lab, hired head coach Ross Adams to lead the team and launched its inaugural campaign in 2019.
"To bring in a new program that a lot of schools aren't bringing in — it's great to be at the forefront of something really exciting," Shoemaker said. "Most schools are behind the curve on this, to be honest with you, their thought process is ancient."
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Esports involves individual gamers or teams competing directly in online, multiplayer video games, and the sport has enjoyed rapid growth over the past five years. The worldwide Esports audience falls just short of 500 million people, and the industry just surpassed $1 billion in total revenue.
Most collegiate Esports teams are run as clubs by students, but Keiser supports Esports at the varsity athletics level. This allows Adams to recruit gamers from across the country, conduct daily practices and conditioning sessions and even offer scholarships.
"I still shock a lot of parents," Adams said. "I tell them this is like any other sport on campus we do, we do our study halls, we do our, you know, our weight training exercise. And with that comes scholarships."
Keiser translated this considerable investment into a strong first season against larger, Division 1 opposition. The Seahawks finished 5-3 in Counter-Strike, a first-person shooting game, and picked up a pair of wins against in-state rival USF.
But it was the COVID-19 pandemic, which unfolded shortly after its opening campaign ended, that showed the meddle of Keiser Esports and the sport as a whole. While many sports struggled to adapt to social-distancing regulations and a lack of access to equipment, Esports' online model remain unchanged.
"A lot of other sports were hindered during COVID," Adams said. "Part of the reason why Esports was kind of thrown into the spotlight is, we can still do our competitions and our practices, and still connect with other players out there."
Adams' roster grew to 25 players in 2020 amidst the pandemic, and the team enjoyed its first major breakthrough this season. Keiser placed fourth at the Apex Legends Collegiate Champions League, and graduate senior Marc Alegri finished second at the tournament in kills.
The Seahawks' performance was so impressive that the three-man Apex team was invited to a professional tournament the following month. Keiser racked up 18 total points and finished seventh in the opening round, only to be knocked out by the eventual champions Alliance, a Swedish professional team.
"That was a good stepping stone in the direction of what we're trying to accomplish here," Adams said. "It shows that we can compete with anybody."
Keiser Esports also provides vocational opportunities, geared towards sports production, to its student body, including social media, broadcast work and video production.
For freshman Joshua Katz, the team even primes him for a career directly in Esports. The Lake Worth native has spent the last year playing Super Smash Bros. for Keiser, but he has also worked with the university over that time to declare a major in Esports.
"I spoke with my admissions counselor, and he said we can work on a way to do an Esports major," Katz said. "I want people to have jobs and opportunities within Esports, and I want for people to know how to get into things like that going forward."
Katz has already begun working on his own Esports league, a platform he hopes will provide opportunities for team managers, broadcasters and stream technicians to get professional experience.
Adams and Shoemaker both believe in the future of the Esports program at Keiser and the professional opportunities it offers. While other sports at Keiser are largely restricted to NAIA competition, the Esports team can compete across the NCAA and even in professional competitions.
"I think with Esports the sky's the limit, Shoemaker said. "There's really no restrictions on Esports, and I think that's one of the beautiful things about it."