The competitive video game scene, or Esports, has exploded in popularity over the last decade or so.
And the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus is embracing young people’s love for gaming with its new Esports Living Lab, which just opened this fall semester.
Walk into USF Tampa’s Student recreation center, and you’ll see a pretty nice gym, with all the equipment you need to get in a good pump.
But go down a level, and you’ll find students working out in a different way — with a controller, or a mouse and keyboard.
Rows of gaming computers fill the lab. Puffy couches line the corners alongside large flat screens with every video game console a gamer could want. And in the ceiling center – a huge neon USF Bulls logo.
After years of playing in makeshift areas, USF opened the Esports Lab. So far, it’s been going well.
“With 40 computers in this lab, we're already hitting capacity, almost nightly,” said Andrew Ross, USF's Esports coordinator.
No more cramped spaces
Ross has seen the Esports program since its early beginnings, when students were cramming into rooms not fit for gaming to hold competitions and play together.
He knows the importance of this space.
“Before I got this job, I was very much a nervous and socially, I would say, awkward person. But now I'm just kind of very comfortable talking and being extroverted and kind of being more myself.”Michael Lucido, a student supervisor for the lab
“A lot of the people involved in our clubs, it's the first time they've ever participated in an extracurricular activity on campus,” Ross said. “It's the first time they've ever held a leadership position in a club, because Esports and the program was able to give them an outlet, and give them responsibility and something that they're passionate about, and this is the only place on campus where you can do that.”
The space is free and open to USF students. In fact, some students are hired to work for the lab. Like David Cooley, a graduate student from Davenport.
'A safe haven' for students
“I mean, it's a safe haven for gamers, honestly,” Cooley said. “There's really no other way to put it. I've seen so many different identities, so many backgrounds, come together in this space already in its infancy.”
Michael Lucido, a student supervisor for the lab, says the job has helped him a lot more than just scratching his gaming itch.
“Before I got this job, I was very much a nervous and socially, I would say, awkward person,” Lucido said. “But now I'm just kind of very comfortable talking and being extroverted and kind of being more myself.”
Sofia Martinez-Sierra is another supervisor for the lab, and a USF junior. She says the space is great at being inclusive for anyone who wants to game, and gives them more room than trying to set up a console or PC in a cramped dorm.
“Plus, you had to connect it to the Wi-Fi here, and that's a whole thing. Like, if you're USF student, you know how annoying it is connecting to Wi Fi,” Martinez-Sierra said.
Lab builds competitive pride
Apart from casual gaming, the lab also hosts 12 Esports teams. They specialize in one game per team, competing in state and national tournaments while representing USF.
Lucy Phillips and Joshua Proctor are USF students, and fighting game specialists. They say they love how USF is evolving its Esports landscape, and it makes them want to represent the university well.
“It's been really amazing to see the scene grow like this and embrace Esports and to honestly be able to compete for my university, for USF, in gaming is insane to me,” Phillips said.
“I just take pride from where I go and where I come from, and I always want to represent the best from them,” Proctor said. “So whenever I go to big tournaments, I always wear my jersey, because I'm like, ‘all right, I want to represent USF, I want to make sure we do the best.' ”
USF is also getting in touch with the academic side of Esports. The university is now teaching two Esports classes, one on the business side of the industry, and another on digital content for Esports, which Andrew Ross teaches.
For Ross, though, one of the most beautiful aspects he sees in the new space is the relationships created.
“People will not know each other, and I'll put them together on an intramural team, because they both signed up as free agents, and then they sit next to each other at graduation,” Ross said. “And so those origin stories, and getting to watch those stories from the very beginning is really special, and that's what makes the job special.”
And for some, the wins and losses matter less than the friends you make along the way.
The Living Lab is hosting the Battle For Florida in October, an Esports Tournament run by USF. And because of the new space, they can now host more teams for the tournament final.
