When Northwest College set up an esports program, the goal was not to encourage students to play video games. 

The hope was students would come out of their dorms — where they were already playing video games — and get them to work together in competitive teams. The college also hoped the program would make an effective recruiting tool. 

While NWC didn’t include the program in its official recruitment campaigns in the fall semester, the program may be a selling point for some prospective students.

During NWC’s Preview Day in November — a one-day showcase giving prospective students a look at the campus and the athletic and academic programs the college offers — tours of the facility got a lot of traffic, said esports coach and residence life coordinator Chris Dugger.

“We had non-stop people coming in to see the facility, all bright new potential students,” Dugger said. 

He said they had several of these potential recruits join the school’s esports Discord server, a communications app that allows students to receive news, post messages and share content. 

“So they’re getting updates every day,” Dugger said. 

Dee Havig, interim vice president of student services, said it likely made an impression on at least a few prospective students. 

“It was something important to their decision process,” Havig said at the December Board of Trustees meeting. 

Interim President Lisa Watson said the initial interest they’re seeing in the program is encouraging, and the administration will have further discussions on how to use it as a recruitment tool in future semesters. 

“There’s really some opportunity for growth there,” Watson said. 

This semester, the program had 25 e-athletes, as they’re called, with 13 competing in official competitions. NWC Athletic Director Brian Erickson said the program is starting out small, so the school didn’t sign up for all the games offered by the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports. Likewise, some of the current program participants don’t play any of the NJCAAE sanctioned games.

“We’re going to up the amount of games we play next semester,” Erickson said. 

Among those e-athletes who did compete, the Trappers had four teams playing multiple games. One team, consisting of Mikaila Pearce and Nicholas Vega, competed in a two-versus-two-player Call of Duty gunfight match, and made the playoffs. 

They beat out 26 other teams to grab the 15th and final seed in the playoff bracket. Pearce and Vega competed against players from Navarro College, whose main campus is in Corsicana, Texas. 

“I was super proud of them,” Dugger said of the NWC duo. “They did a really good job.”

Dugger said the program is also accomplishing its other goals, which is encouraging more socialization among current students. It’s taking video gaming outside dorm rooms into a student gathering place. 

“We’re bringing them to work together as a team, have some camaraderie, learn teamwork and communication. And basically putting it into a constructive avenue,” Dugger said. 

Local internet provider TCT and the NWC Foundation helped set up the program, with TCT committed to providing the team’s internet needs for three years. TCT CEO Richard Wardell said the company also provided 15 scholarships in the 2020-2021 school year: 10 valued at $500 and five at $1,000.