FEATURE
The Esports Scene at SJSU Is On the Rise
By Rhoda Shapiro Photos: Robert C. Bain
FEATURE
The Esports Scene at SJSU Is On the Rise
By Rhoda Shapiro Photos: Robert C. Bain
In recent years, the competitive gaming scene has seen a rapid increase in popularity.
Known as esports, which is short for electronic sports, this highly organized form of video game competition has been embraced by countless colleges and universities across the country. Within the higher education space, there are tremendous opportunities for passionate gamers to find like-minded community members through esports clubs and programs, as well as compete in high-level varsity and junior varsity tournaments.
San José State is no exception.
SJSU’s Esports Club originally formed in 2018 with just 30 students, and every year, more and more students have gotten involved. Recently, the university took things to the next level, creating an official esports and gaming department in the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center (SRAC).
Through this department, esports and gaming have been given a platform to grow quickly at SJSU. The new department is able to oversee all of the esports club members and provide any logistical support they might need when it comes to planning and preparing for competitions. It also oversees the varsity teams that have formed to compete with other schools. All of the esports players are considered student athletes for the university.
At the Mountain West Conference this past November, SJSU student Nathan Yaokum, ’26 Mechanical Engineering, was named Player of the Year, while a separate SJSU team took home the Super Smash Bros. championship title.
“I appreciate every single one of our players and the work they put in,” says Gabriel Eckenroth, the esports and gaming department supervisor. “It’s exciting. Esports is an area that is progressing very quickly right now.”
Before coming to SJSU, Eckenroth played esports semi-professionally for six years in the collegiate space. Eckenroth’s game of choice was League of Legends, a multiplayer battle arena game. He got his master’s in business administration on a full-ride scholarship to play esports at Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri.
“Back then, it wasn’t as mainstream,” Eckenroth explains. “In 2016, there were only a few schools that did scholarships for esports. I had to convince my parents for two weeks straight that it wasn’t a scam.”
Eckenroth started leading the new gaming department just over a year ago. He is the very first person to serve in this role at San José State.
“We support competitive gaming as well as casual and intramural esports,” says Eckenroth.“So students who want to play casually and meet other people have an environment to play each other.”
“It’s exciting. Esports is an area that is progressing very quickly right now."
— Gabriel Eckenroth
“Esports at SJSU was my passion project for almost the entirety of my time here. Its current growth with Gabriel is a joy to behold.”
— Vinh Nguyen
Fueling growth
Vinh Nguyen, ’24 Public Relations, currently works as an interim club sports coordinator for the Ramiro Compean and Lupe Compean Diaz Student Union. He joined the Esports Club in 2022 as an event coordinator. In 2023, he served as vice president, and then served as president until he graduated in fall 2024. Nguyen worked extensively on team operations, supporting all team managers with tryouts, travel, funding and other logistics.
“Gabriel didn’t join the school as our esports and gaming supervisor until fall 2023, so before that our club was purely run by the passion of student players and volunteers,” shares Nguyen. “We were small — we probably only had around 40-50 active members. Even back then, though, I saw the potential for esports and gaming on our campus, and I’ve worked hard to make esports and gaming inclusive for as many students as possible.”
Nguyen looked for ways to provide more opportunities for students to compete across a greater number of video game titles. He also worked to open up different volunteer opportunities. The intention was to really create and lead a community where students felt like they had a second home in esports.
Although he graduated in 2024, Nguyen is thrilled that his new position at the Student Union allows him to stay connected to the esports community at SJSU and to watch it grow.
“Esports at SJSU was my passion project for almost the entirety of my time here,” says Nguyen. “I dedicated everything I could to see the success of all of our students, so its current growth with Gabriel is a joy to behold.”
“I saw the potential for esports and gaming on our campus, and I’ve worked hard to make esports and gaming inclusive for as many students as possible.”
— Vinh Nguyen
The SJSU E-Sports team celebrates with their Mountain West trophy. Esports and gaming have recently been taken to the next level at SJSU. Photo: Robert C. Bain.
The SJSU E-Sports team celebrates with their Mountain West trophy. Photos: Robert C. Bain.
Esports and gaming have recently been taken to the next level at SJSU.
Next level
Due to the growing list of video games, Eckenroth and students have been working to create smaller clubs based around a single game.
“For example, Valorant is a game in the Mountain West Conference,” says Eckenroth. “Since it’s a popular game on campus, students created a Valorant Club, so they can play together competitively or casually.”
Along with the separate clubs being created, there are currently seven varsity teams, which are based on the games Valorant, League of Legends, College Football 2025, Street Fighter, Overwatch, Rocket League and Super Smash Bros.
A total of 42 players are represented across all of the varsity teams. There are also roughly about 70 junior varsity players and supported title players (who play video games that aren’t in Mountain West varsity).
The team also includes a marginalized genders roster as part of a larger league designed to give non-male gamers a space to develop their skills. Forming the league was also a way of pushing back against the misogynistic behavior that has been prevalent in the online gaming community. The SJSU Esports team has a varsity marginalized gender Valorant roster that competes against fellow rosters in specific leagues; they even compete against other collegiate esports leagues that encompass all collegiate teams.
At present, there are seven women (five players and 2 student managers) on their marginalized genders Valorant team.
Before the gaming department was created, students would often organize things on their own and go out to play in competitive matches.
But now, Eckenroth, who is the only full-time staff in the gaming department, oversees all of the teams and their scheduling. Players come to him to get support in understanding which tournaments, matches and leagues they should join. Each team also has a student manager that works with Eckenroth on various details.
Eckenroth also works with student staff who provide support with social media, including video game streams that showcase Mountain West and other competitive matches for varsity teams. On average, these streams happen five times a week. A big part of Eckenroth’s role is also in educating university leadership about what esports and gaming is, where it’s going and how to advance it.
“I feel like I’m in a good position to push esports and gaming to the next level here at San José State,” shares Eckenroth.
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