On Tuesday, Oct. 3, the legendary Varsity Premier GamerRoos took to the digital battlefield against Butler University in their fifth competitive “Overwatch 2” match.

  In this high-stakes showdown, Varsity Premier played a grueling best-of-five series and gave it their all, but the match ended in a loss. Despite that, teammates excelled in coordinating strategies and aided those who faced challenges.

  “The team came out to the lab and put everything on the line. We took an unfortunate loss, but we have come a long way and there is still room to grow,” said team member Walter Gilliam, who is known as JaggedWyer online.

  The roster featured formidable players alongside Gilliam, including Ike Brummund (WizzardGrandpa), Adam Dundas (Abdnbr), Kaden Hedges (Pelagius), Lucky Huynh (Pugatti), and Myles Coates (Ryzon17).

  This esports journey was guided by Coach Connor Daniels, a UMKC staff member majoring in mathematics, and well versed in the ways of “Overwatch 2” and “League of Legends.” 

  Alongside Daniels were Luz Duran (Lightmark), an accounting major, and Bryce Tharp (DrSpyderNerd), a physics major. They launched two esports teams, Varsity Premier and Varsity Plus, for “Overwatch 2” earlier this year.

  It wasn’t an easy journey to become such a strong team, as Tharp recounted, “In the spring, we barely had enough people to play.” 

  However, scholarship opportunities are now on the line for Varsity Premier players. The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) paved the way for athletes to excel academically while they pursued their passion of gaming.

  Rewards can be substantial, with the top four spots gaining financial benefits that dwindled as teams moved further down the ladder. Battles occur every Tuesday at 6 p.m.

  Their arena, the Esports Lab, is a gamer’s paradise open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Flarsheim Hall, Room 463. The hardware is exceptional, featuring RTX 3080 graphics cards and 165 hertz monitors.

  For a game haven like this, it didn’t come cheap, with an estimated cost of around $50,000. Thanks to a sponsorship deal from HyperX, gamers were well equipped with top notch headsets, mice and keyboards to enhance their gaming capabilities.

  For those interested in connecting with members of GamerRoos, join the Discord here.

  To watch live streams of matches via Twitch, click here.

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