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by Charles Perez (M.A. ’25)
As a substitute of gridiron, visualize a digital area. As a substitute of a chalkboard, a widescreen. As a substitute of security tools, a headset and controller.
Each the classroom curriculum and the varsity sports activities choices at St. Mary’s College have entered the realm of gaming whereas retaining a way of group.
After a profitable 2024-2025 season for the St. Mary’s Rattler Esports staff that included an undefeated season by the Rocket League staff, the Name of Responsibility staff incomes a third-place end within the ECAC Esports Division, and a cumulative 3.4 GPA for the season, Rattler Esports Director Kaitlin Teniente praises the staff’s development from the campus-wide help.
“In these early years, the sturdy group now we have on campus formed the tradition inside the program,” Teniente stated. “The College strives for educational and aggressive excellence, and our college students usually meet and exceed these excessive expectations.”
With a stream of current achievements, it’s no marvel that the highlight continues to shine on Rattler Esports.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Communication Research, Andrew J. Wilson, Ph.D., is aware of all in regards to the tradition of gaming.
After being gifted Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos by Blizzard Leisure for his tenth birthday, Wilson was hooked. His curiosity in real-time technique video games laid the inspiration for his curiosity in recreation research whereas incomes his Ph.D. on the College of Oregon’s College of Journalism and Communication.
For Wilson, incorporating recreation research into communication research is an indication of the instances.
“Gaming is changing into more and more normalized due to the streaming increase and extra widespread illustration on social media,” Wilson stated. “Day by day, individuals are seeing gaming as a traditional factor that celebrities, athletes and politicians take pleasure in. We’re slowly making progress at altering social understandings of who avid gamers are and what video games are all about.”
In Spring 2026, Wilson taught a New Tech in Communication course, specializing in video games, tradition and rising media. This course engaged college students with the technological context of human communication and fostered crucial occupied with computer-mediated interplay; cyber id; and points associated to gender, race, class and age.
When analyzing these matters by the lens of recreation research, Wilson introduces college students to the broader tradition of gaming, then focuses on matters similar to content material creator tradition, dwell streaming, AI and gaming, labor practices within the recreation business, video games and psychological well being, the globalization of gaming and media illustration.
“I’ve college students play video games for assignments, and there’s at all times a degree,” Wilson stated. “We’ll have a look at the narrative structure of a recreation like Minecraft, or have them play a recreation the place the principle character is a feminine after which ask, ‘What does that illustration do? Is it difficult or feeding into stereotypes?’ I ask college students to play a first-person shooter recreation (usually a weapon-based recreation that’s seen by the eyes of the character) and mirror on the violence they see simulated and ask the way it made them really feel exiting that play expertise.”
Wilson’s message to anybody hesitant to include gaming into their lives is straightforward: “Play extra video games. Invite your folks, your loved ones, your family members and use video games to socialize and construct connections.”
At first of their sixth aggressive season, Rattler Esports has a formidable roster of 25 varsity student-athletes, composed of devoted groups that compete towards different schools in 5 video games: Name of Responsibility, Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League and Valorant.
A few of that staff development might be linked to the College’s annual esports summer time camps. These camps are co-ed and provide sixth by Twelfth-grade college students of all ability ranges the chance to study recreation fundamentals, staff expertise and multimedia coaching.
Not solely are these camps useful for the scholars attending, however many former campers select to grow to be official Rattlers and be a part of the Esports staff as undergraduate college students.
“Two of my Rocket League gamers and one among my Fortnite pupil–athletes had been recruited from the summer time camps,” Teniente stated. “It’s a full circle second for me to have campers return as St. Mary’s college students and assist me run these summer time camps. It exhibits that this program has had a really constructive affect on those that attend.”
Junior Chelsy Tinacba, a Laptop Science main, performs on the Rocket League staff and has fond recollections of her time attending an esports summer time camp at St. Mary’s.
“I used to be in a position to meet friends from throughout San Antonio and get first-hand expertise on what it’s wish to play esports on the collegiate stage,” Tinacba stated.
The summer time camp’s construction was a promoting level for Tinacba to attend St. Mary’s as an undergraduate.
“Esports are taken very significantly right here,” Tinacba stated. “The construction and expectations set by Coach Kaitlin had been an eye-opener. I actually beloved my transition from summer time camp attendee to St. Mary’s pupil as a result of I realized in camp that this program does extra than simply play video video games, and I realized that you’ll at all times have help to get the place you wish to be.”
For Teniente, this system’s future is vibrant with potentialities. Her listing of targets for the subsequent 5 years consists of competing towards bigger universities and increasing pupil employee alternatives that can deal with rising their roster.
Teniente explains that as this system beneficial properties extra pupil employees, “in addition they convey very attention-grabbing and revolutionary concepts.”
“Among the greatest concepts we’ve applied have been from pupil employees who say, ‘Hey, coach, how can we do that? How can we do this?’” Teniente stated. “Let’s discover out collectively.”
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