Within a year, Eastern Wyoming College’s esports team has become one of the best in the nation, earning a top seed at next month’s national Fortnite competition. The Lancers are among eight teams competing starting Dec. 9.
Caleb Spitzer, the team’s coach, said it’s a vindicating moment. His organized approach gives talented students a venue to develop skills and build careers on an international stage without leaving the college’s Torrington campus.
“Some schools run esports like a club or extracurricular activity where you are doing it outside of your schoolwork,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “We are running our program like a standard sport. This isn't just sitting around playing games. It is learning and strategic thinking.”
Top Seeds
Ryder Tillard and Allen Woodward will represent EWC in the national Fortnite competition. The duo is one of 32 Tier One teams nationwide, only open to full-time students.
Overall, an estimated 500 million people worldwide play Fortnite, according to Statista. Of those, the EWC duo are among the elite college players.
They will compete in Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode, where 100 players attempt to eliminate each other in an online arena that shrinks over time. Players strategically build structures, find weapons and upgrade their equipment and capabilities for tactical advantages during the 20 to 25-minute matches.
As a duo, Tillard and Woodward will try to get the highest number of “kills” between them. They win matches if they collectively get more kills than the other teams.
Tillard is among the best Fortnite players in the world, having earned the Unreal rank that only 0.2% of Fortnite’s 3.8 million ranked players achieve. With his teammate Woodward, Spitzer believes EWC has the best team in this competition, and possibly the world.
“On paper, we're in the top four, at least,” he said. “The playoff finals are next Monday, and if we win that, we’ll be the first or second seed for the nation.”
Spitzer is “very proud” of Tillard and Woodward. Over the last few months, the already-skilled duo has come into their own as players, teammates and professionals.
“I’m super happy with the work Ryder and Allen are doing,” he said. “ They really stepped up, especially the second half of the season, and I’ve seen a lot of growth from them. We have a good chance of going far in this competition.”
Discipline And Growth
Spitzer approaches the EWC’s esports team like any standard sport. He’s aware of what people perceive as a stereotypical “gamer” and wants to change the narrative of esports in the Cowboy State.
“We have required weekly practices,” he said. “I hand out specific things I notice each student needs to work on, whether that's some aspect of communication, aiming, or whatever each student needs, and we practice those things weekly. We do video reviews of gameplay and get their input on strategies and how we should approach each match with the information we have.”
Spitzer also “scouts out the opposing team” by watching them via live streams or videos posted on social media. He shares his observations with players so they can better understand how their opponents play, identifying strengths and weaknesses.
Esports are less physically intensive than football, basketball and other traditional sports. However, top-tier players must develop physical endurance and mental fortitude, which Spitzer tries to impart to his team.
“You need to be able to handle the workload mentally,” he said. “You have to be able to make the same decisions at the first match as the last match, so you can't get mentally drained from an intense moment and go into the next game tired and exhausted. And if you constantly use your hands for four hours straight, they’ll tire. You have to push through that mentally.”
Tillard and Woodward don’t have to make weight, run a 6-minute mile or hit the gym daily to succeed on the EWC esports team. Nevertheless, they take their work as seriously as any other competitor.
“We use the same principles as any other sport, just applied in different ways to fit our specific sport,” Spitzer said.
Playing The World From Here
While it’s a national tournament, Tillard and Woodward will participate from the Torrington EWC campus. It’s another aspect that makes esports unique and logistically simple.
Even while playing from Wyoming, the EWC esports program will get national exposure. Spitzer is excited about the possibilities this will bring for the program and its players.
“I would like to see more wide-scale acceptance of esports at the collegiate level and start building those foundations at the high school level,” he said. “If high schools get into it, I can recruit out of high schools for our two-year program. Then, four-year programs can recruit out of our program.”
Spitzer sees this as a way of “chain-speeding” the professional trajectory of talented players.
According to GlobalData, esports is already a billion-dollar industry in the United States and is expected to have a market share of nearly $5 billion by 2030.
Esports can mean scholarships, sponsorships and million-dollar salaries with the right opportunities, but it isn’t for everyone.
When Spitzer is scouting for the EWC esports team, he’s not just looking for talent and someone willing to sit with a controller for hours upon hours.
“There are people that do nothing but sit around home and play video games, and that is not a positive,” he said. “It takes a focused goal to make it into something good. Competition, schedule and daily exercise benefit your performance, and introducing these things makes it a positive.”
Wyoming Watches
Spitzer intends to host a livestream for anyone interested in watching the EWC Lancers compete in the Fortnite Nationals once they start Dec. 9. Tillard and Woodward enter at the top of the pack, winning six matches and losing only one at regionals.
Meanwhile, Spitzer hopes to have Tier One Madden NFL football and Mario Kart teams competing at EWC by next spring. He’s also preparing for Fenworks, a competitive esports drone racing program for high school students, in March.
According to Spitzer, the key to the EWC esports program is dedication. Dedication is a two-way street that is helping him build a better program for Wyoming students and helping them develop the skills and discipline they’ll use for the rest of their lives.
“It takes dedication on both ends,” he said, “Yes, it's fun to play. It's a competition. But the students have to be willing to show up, put in the extra hours, and develop their skills.
“Then there's the level of dedication for me, putting in those extra resources and time to ensure they have what they need to succeed. Dedication is required from both ends to make the program successful, and that’s why ours is doing so well.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
