RAMS Report

By Mike “str8razor” Glover, Esports Athletic Director

The ECPI University Rams have been busy practicing each day, albeit remotely.  As our players already know, each player on the team commits to practicing from home daily when they join the team, so it was an easy transition for us to move practice to a remote environment. Here’s how we are moving forward:   

NACE (National Association of Collegiate Esports) Spring Season

NACE has officially cancelled the spring season for all titles. However, they are running smaller individual events that we are participating in as our current roster will allow. 

ECAC (Eastern Coast Athletic Conference Esports)

The ECAC was named an official conference partner for CLOL (Collegiate League of Legends) last fall.  And while CLOL has cancelled the National CLOL Championship, they have authorized partner conferences to run down their respective conference championships if they see fit. ECAC decided to do just that, running the ECAC League of Legends Conference Championship online.

New Games

Those that have been following the Rams know that we added Fortnite this year during the January open tryouts and we are still looking for more players, but unless you are on our Discord server, you probably do not know about our new Valorant Team. After discussion with both the Overwatch and CSGO team players, it was decided to combine the two teams into one new Valorant team. The team is now busy getting to know the character abilities and game mechanics in preparation for a NACE fall season. 

Ongoing Tryouts 

The ECPI RAMS hold ongoing tryouts on a regular basis for all Richmond, Newport News, and Virginia Beach/Norfolk campus Locations. Tryouts are remote and held via Discord for all the games we currently field teams for (League of Legends, Hearthstone, Fortnite, Valorant and Rocket League).  Apply today at www.ecpi.edu/esports.

Stream Team/Social Media Team Are you a gamer, but maybe not a competitive gamer? Do you still want to be a part of the RAMS, earn a jersey and help the team?  You’re in luck!  We also need more casters (broadcasters), streamers, and producers for the stream team – no experience necessary, we will train! The same goes for our Social Media Team. We need help moderating our Discord community, Twitch channel, and social media. Apply for both at www.ecpi.edu/esports.

I am extremely proud of how the players are handling this very delicate situation. In Rocket League, for example, NACE is hosting a Spring Cup instead of a formal season. Thirty-eight teams registered for this, and of those, 10 made the playoffs, including the ECPI University RAMS!

Meet RAMS Team Member April Palmer – Valorant Team

Q. What is your specialty on the team?

I seem to be a lot of things. I could be the healer, defender, the one that pushes out onto a site. I can be anything the coaches or team want me to be.

Q. What drew you to eSports? 

I have been a gamer half of my life and always will be. When I came to college, I saw that there was an eSports team and I was super excited. I had never been on a gaming team before. I thought I would try it out.

Q. What is it like to be on the team now? How do you practice and preserve a sense of camaraderie remotely?

It’s been an adventure getting to know everyone on the team. Since we are all gamers, we are quite used to making friends through games/online. 

Q. Has anything good come from being in isolation?

Not talking to your teammates in real life can make it a little difficult maintaining that friendship as a team, but I think we have pulled it off quite well. In my opinion, one of the good things about being isolated is that I am in my own environment and feel more comfortable playing. I use my own computer and my own room when playing at meetings now.    

Q. What has been most challenging? 

I am someone who wants to prove that I can be part of the team and do my part. 

Q. How is it to be a woman in male-heavy realm?

I grew up around boys. Having three brothers and no sisters has really helped with this situation.

Q. What do you want people to know about the team?

It’s quite an amazing team. Everyone is always supportive and knows good strategies to help in games. They always give you tips on how to improve your gaming and how to cooperate as a team.