Winthrop's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and League of Legends teams won national championships at the Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup (CECC) and the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) competitions in Arlington, Texas, May 3-5. Winthrop also received the CECC School of the Year Award, and computer science major Bharat Chintipall earned the MVP Award for his stellar play in the SSBU competition.
City Labs Inc. will partner with Winthrop University's esteemed esports program to host what promises to be the largest esports conference in the Carolinas.
Scheduled to take place on Aug. 16-17 at the Winthrop Coliseum, this inaugural event will gather educators, gaming enthusiasts, drone industry professionals and top-tier esports competitors under one roof. Organizers want to deliver an unforgettable experience that celebrates the rapidly growing esports culture.
Winthrop University, Visit York County and Carowinds will host the second annual Rock the Winds esports tournament on April 13-14. The event will bring hundreds of athletes including 20 of the top 50 players in the country to Carowinds to compete for a prize pool of $10,000.
The competition will feature Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Rivals of Aether, along with two new games for the 2024 event: Street Fighter and HewDraw Remix.
Winthrop Esports is the first collegiate Valorant team to qualify for the prestigious Valorant Challengers 2024 tournament. According to head coach Josh Sides, the tournament is considered the second-tier of professional competition, and the Eagles will face both independent and professional-affiliated teams.
Winthrop partnered with Visit York County and The Modern Arcade to host its second annual Rock the Hill tournament November 4-5, 2023. Competitors vied for cash prizes in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Street Fighter 6, Mortal Kombat, HDR, Project+, Rivals of Aether and Guilty Gear. Over 200 competitors attended, filling Winthrop Coliseum with some of the best fighting game talent in the region. This event is a complement to the Eagles' other fighting game event, Rock the Winds, planned for spring 2024.
WU Valorant had a thrilling run in the 2023 Red Bull Campus Clutch USA National Tournament. Winning Deep South Region tournament in October, they advanced as one of the 8 teams to compete in the national tournament in Chicago, IL November 4-5. Undefeated until the final round, Winthrop fell to defending world champions Northwood University, claiming second place in the nation.
Winthrop brought home another trophy after competing in the Sixty Six Games Invitational October 21-23, 2023. WU League of Legends played an exciting grand finals match versus Saint Louis University to secure yet another title for the Eagles.
The Eagles were a force at the annual HUE Fest Invitational September 15-17, 2023. The 3-day tournament, hosted by Harrisburg University, invites 16 of the most elite collegiate programs in the nation to compete in League of Legends, Rocket League and Valorant. Both Winthrop teams (LoL and Valorant) advanced to the playoffs, with the Valorant team finishing strong in 3rd place and the League of Legends team claiming the championship title.
Winthrop Esports was the only university in the Final Four of both League of Legends and Valorant at the Riot Scholastic Association of America (RSAA) College Championships in Los Angeles, CA June 3-June 7, 2023. The CLoL team finished in 3rd place overall, and after an intense battle in Grand Finals, the CVAL team narrowly fell to Northwood, finishing as the championship runner-up.
Winthrop's esports program will begin leasing space this summer in the historic Lowenstein Building in University Center in the Knowledge Park corridor. The new location will contain five varsity team game room spaces, a large open game room with seating for 56, a conference/team meeting room and four offices. According to esports Coach Josh Sides, who has built the Winthrop program, "Leasing this space will allow the Eagle program to move from just competing competitively to now focusing on building the program in the community."
The inaugural Rock the Winds Tournament, a 2-day Smash/Rivals event hosted by Winthrop
Esports, took place March 25-26, 2023. Almost 200 participants gathered at Carowinds
for the tournament, including some of the highest level players in the world. The
full tournament results and stream sets are available online.
Winners
Smash Ultimate Doubles: Spencer "PAR Scend" Garner and Bharat "Lima" Chintapall
Smash Ultimate Singles: Bharat "Lima" Chintapall
Rivals of Aether Singles: Trevor "Codek" Young