Esports aims to raise funds
Chadron State’s Esports looks to raise funds for six gaming setups after the club’s $14,347.51 budget request was disproved by the campus Activity Fees Board on Oct. 5.
The club’s equipment request was for $12,867.72 for the purchase of six Alienware R11 computers including monitors, towers and other essential gaming equipment for use on campus. The remaining $1,479.79 of the club’s budget request was for programming and gaming chairs.
AFB Chair Feven Hailemariam said AFB’s bylaws permit a $100 allowance for first-year clubs and the hiccup in this process is that CAB funds were allocated last spring, so any approvals come from the Student Senate’s unallocated budget which is all they have for the remainder of the fiscal year. Hailemariam also said that given the uncertainty of fundraising during a pandemic, if Esports can fundraise 5-10 percent of equipment costs, it would make a sufficient amount.
“AFB is trying to find all the possible ways to make eSports a reality on campus,” Hailemariam, said.
Esports will proceed as a club on campus and plans to work its budget for events rather than items this fall.
“I was pretty disappointed because we are doing all we can to fundraise and earn recognition as a club on campus,” Shayne Bayles, freshman of Hotchkiss, Colorado said.
The club is co-sponsoring The Pit’s NBA 2K tournament at 9 p.m., tonight, in the Student Center.
The club continues its competitive Rainbow Six Siege league and looks to break into a varsity league. However, most members in CSC’s esports do not have access to gaming PCs that Rainbow Six operates effectively with, according to Bayles.
Alfred said the situation isn’t a final result for the club, but rather a chance to grow its community by hosting more campus events and participate in fundraising activities.
South Dakota School of Mines is the only school in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference that recognizes its esports as a National Collegiate Athletic Association sanctioned sport. Black Hills State University, Colorado School of Mines and MSU Denver list their esports as an intramural sport while Colorado Mesa University and New Mexico Highlands consider esports as a club sport.
Bayles said CSC’s esports has 31 total members, but the club sees at least one new member join each week.
“It has helped me make friends on campus,” Bayles said. “It has also helped me get involved with a leadership role early in college as a CAB representative.”
Outside its competitive leagues, CSC’s esports also features groups of members participating in Pokemon Go and Minecraft.