President Thomas A. Parham, CSU Board of Trustees Chair Wenda Fong, Director of Esports Kevin Buchmiller and President of the CSUDH Esports Association Franky Saldana crowd in front of the Esports lab on the second floor of the Leo F. Cain Library. Photo by Leah Quintero.
By Leah Quintero Managing Editor
Esports is a steadily growing industry that has accumulated a global audience of 540 million. It has its own Olympics, collegiate governing body and now an Esports Academy at California State University, Dominguez Hills dedicated to bridging the gap between online sports and higher education.
“Our goal has always been to develop a well-rounded Esports program that goes beyond competition and we believe we’re doing that here today,” Kevin Buchmiller, the director of Esports, said during the Toro Esports Academy ribbon cutting ceremony held on April 24.
As explained during the ceremony, the Esports Academy, which includes 18 gaming and three broadcast stations, was created to give students a home base that allows them to learn the vital skills necessary for their future.
The lab itself, where the Toro Esports Academy calls home, is broken down into four parts; a classroom area with 20 stations featuring a whiteboard and podium, a 12-station row of competition equipment, an innovation and incubation section for idea development and graphic design, and lastly a broadcasting room for production, Twitch streams and content creation.
Along with that, the academy promises to assist with students’ career development and guide them through multiple career paths that may or may not be linked to esports.
A big part of getting CSUDH Esports to the place that it is lies in its five pillars; academic and research, career development, community, competition and entertainment. Each one was developed to aid in the expansion of esports as a whole.
For instance, by including community. The program has succeeded in forming partnerships with Compton Unified School District which allows players to interact with the district’s teams, furthering their vow to give students tangible skills, like coaching.
A goal of the academy is to continue to practice inclusivity. Currently, The program is roughly 20% female which is above the college esports average of 8%, but still needs some work.
“There’s a strong culture of inclusion and belonging within this program and we like to say that our community goes beyond inclusion to that sense of belonging,” Buchmiller said. “We have a lot more work to do in that space and we’re making the strides there in spring 2023.”
Esports at CSUDH has been continuously making a name for itself ever since the original club first came about around eight years ago and expanded into something bigger than a simple club. The team has since made immense progress with seven of the 13 teams making playoffs in fall 2022 and six making it into the divisional semi-finals.
“We have accomplished so much already but there is still so much more to do,” Buchmiller said. “Esports is a strategy and not an outcome as we like to say ourselves. We will continue to drive this success within our pillars of easement.”
With three championships under their belts, it won’t be long until Toro Esports surpasses that.
