Interested in competing against universities across the state or just hanging out and sharing games with friends? Trinity University Gaming (TU Gaming) provides opportunities for both with their esports team and the multiple events they host throughout the year.
Whether an experienced gamer or a novice, TU Gaming has options for everybody, as Audrey Tollett, junior computer science major and president of the club, explained. Tollett has been involved with the club since her first year at Trinity and was the vice president of esports last year.
“For the esports sector, we really want to give our students the opportunities to compete competitively for their game and feel really good about what they do for that game, and on the events side, it’s usually a more casual environment to just allow people to hang out, play games with peers who like the same games,” Tollett said.
This year, TU Gaming has hosted Smash tournaments, bring-your-own game nights and board game nights. On the esports side, students compete in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Esport Tournament with the games Rocket League, Super Smash Bros and Valorant. Like many sports teams at Trinity, the Trinity esports team competes during the regular fall season, with the season ending on Nov 10. If you choose to watch Trinity’s esports team play Valorant on Twitch, you’ll hear the voice of Foster Good, first-year engineering major, providing commentary as a gamecaster. For Good, gaming is more than just fun.
“It’s a way for me to reconnect with my friends who go to different colleges or live in a different area, and it’s a potential career path if I were to do commentating as a side job,” Good said.
Of course, equipment such as PCs and consoles are required to play video games and compete in esports. Currently, TU Gaming has no designated space on campus. Joseph Hernandez, vice president of events and junior biology major, expressed his frustration with the lack of equipment available to students.
“I have visited many other universities. … I’ve seen what they’ve had for their club and I want to take inspiration. For example, they have a ridiculous amount of PCs and consoles, I want to have that,” Hernandez said. “I’ve talked to the other officers, and they seem to like the idea of having our own space and having computers, TVs.”
To Tollett, esports serves the team as more than just a way to relax.
“Just like any hobby, you can learn a lot of skills, but gaming specifically, since it is based in a social context, I think you can learn a lot of communication skills,” Tollett said. “For a lot of our competitive teams we have captains, so they really get to learn … how to respectfully and authentically lead a group of people.”
On the more artistic side, as Xavier Onofre, senior communication major, points out, video gaming isn’t just a hobby. It’s a unique storytelling medium, unlike films or books.
“There’s a lot of opportunities for interesting stories to develop in certain games that can’t be fully expressed in movies and other things because of time,” Onofre said. “Just having that option of interactability is really cool.”
If you’re looking for a spooky game to check out during the Halloween season, Good suggests “Dead by Daylight,” and Onofre said to look forward to “Pokémon Legends: Z-A,” which is set to release in 2025.
