Hello toros, we wanted to end the year with a huge congratulations to all of our esports teams here at CSUDH. A special congratulations goes to our Rocket League and League of Legends team, who both made it all the way to the finals and finished 2^nd placed! This semester, we had 7 teams in the NECC which made it through to the top 16 of their divisions. Notably, the Valorant Gold team placed 1st overall in their group stage with a record of 7-1. Currently, Esports at CSUDH houses 13 varsity and junior varsity teams across eight game titles, with plans to expand in Spring 2023. In Fall 2022, the esports program had the most registered teams of any previous season, totaling 13 with 77 players. Competitive success followed. Seven of those 13 teams made playoffs, six made their way into the divisional semi-finals, and 2 teams made it to finals.

We started payoffs with a viewing party, sponsored by Raising Canes, at the Residence Hall Commons on campus. Our goal is to include all CSUDH students into esports activities and ensure esports is accessible to everyone. Here is a recap of the playoffs: all 4 Valorant teams, both Rocket League teams, and the League of Legends team progressed out of their divisional group stage and into playoffs, with Valorant Gold boasting an impressive 7W – 1L group stage record. After the Ro8, the only team eliminated was Valorant Crimson. Most notably, our League of Legends team (ranked 7^th) eliminated the #2 ranked New Mexico Tech after going the distance in all 3 games. Moving into the semi-finals, this sadly meant the end of the season for the remaining Valorant teams and Rocket League JV. However, League of Legends continued their Cinderella run, winning 2 – 1 vs. Ohio University to make it to the finals. Rocket league Varsity followed suite winning 3 – 1 vs. Montana. Both teams fought hard in their playoffs, but unfortunately both were unable to prevail. League of Legends went down 0 – 3 vs. Sacramento State, and Rocket League lost 1 – 4 vs. UCSB. GG and congrats to both schools! Each match was broadcasted on our twitch account, https://twitch.tv/esports_csudh 

All our teams put dedication, teamwork, critical thinking, and multitasking into this season. We are so proud of the skills the students have gained and will use throughout their career. Collegiate esports is thriving due to the many opportunities’ and networking students have as a result of participating. Casting, broadcasting, social media, coaching, managing teams, and competing are some of the many skills students are practicing in the esports program. A special thanks to the club cabinet members, these are students that have gone beyond expectations by committing to their roles within the student club on top of being a full-time student. We are looking forward to an excellent Spring 2023 season!

Go Toros!