Last Thursday, Stephens College made history when it officially created the first varsity-level eSports team at an all-women’s school. The program’s 12-player squad will begin digitally competing in collegiate Overwatch leagues this fall.
Administrators started discussing adding eSports as the school’s ninth sport 16 months ago, according to ESPN. Its players will receive the same partial scholarships and resources given to the institution’s other athletic programs. The only difference: The eSports team will be housed in the information technology department.
Stephens became a member of the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) — college-level competitive gaming’s version of the NCAA — joining 30 other scholarship-sponsored programs under the organization. In keeping with Stephens’ eSports team’s pioneering spirit, they chose Blizzard’s team shooter Overwatch for their initial competitive title for its diverse and strong female characters.
The squad will have a six-person main team and backup “bench” of six more athletes; Interested students may apply on the program’s website, with tryouts over the summer. This fall, the team will start competing in Overwatch leagues run by Tespa, the collegiate eSports organization that puts on the Heroes of the Dorm series and operates out of Blizzard’s headquarters.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Select Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: PyCon AU 2024 Talks, New Raspberry Pi Gear Available and More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
