BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Blinn College’s Esports team has only been around for a few years but they’re already making a mark in the collegiate rankings.
The team has over 30 wins and only five losses and is ranked among the top five programs in the country.
“The plan was to always be this successful and it was always to kind of put ourselves on the map relatively quickly and I always felt we had the opportunity to do that here,” said Buccaneers Esports head coach Aaron Kapiko.
A national championship is in their sights now and are currently playing in a tournament to bring gold back to the Brazos Valley.
Hayden Whitaker, who specializes in playing Valorant for the team believes that they have the right group to make history.
“We’ve already won our regionals pretty easily and we were able to qualify for this national one coming up and we’re very confident going into this one,” said Whitaker.
Besides playing on one of the best teams in the country, players also think that there will be many opportunities available for them after they graduate.
“I have this amazing program that opens up a lot of opportunities for me in Esports,” said Blinn Esports team member Christian Ekpenike.
On their journey to the top, the team also hopes this will bring more appreciation to Esports athletes.
Kapiko said they work out, practice, watch game film and many other things that your typical collegiate athlete would do to perform at the highest level.
“It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of time in. A lot of people have this idea that it’s just people playing video games in their room by themselves and that’s not the case.”
The Buccaneers Esports team continues the national championship tournament on Nov 19.
They also have a chance to compete for a world championship depending on the outcome of the national championship tournament.
You can look at some of team’s previous matches and streams here.
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