Three Riverhawks esports teams—squads that play electronic games in matches against other colleges—start its season in October.

Rocket League will compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association esports league, while the Overwatch team will play recreational matches. The League of Legends team may play recreational matches.

“I’m just trying to get people together and get the ball rolling,” Head esports coach Conway Johnson said. “Our Rocket League team last semester was up against a lot of tough teams, but they really were improving through the season and we’re looking pretty strong.”

Last season the Riverhawks played their first-ever esports season as an athletic squad. 

Johnson said the expectation this season is to continue to grow the program.

Johnson said he feels good about the autumn season.

“We’ve definitely had more coming in recruitment this season,” Johnson noted. “And we’ve had a [spring] season now to kind of get our bearings [and] get a feel for things.”

Second-year undecided student Tyler Graves, who will compete in Rocket League, noted the team’s strength is communication.

“Our communication was pretty good last year [and] we’re just going to keep improving communication from [the players] we have,” Graves, a returner, said.

Graves added, “We didn’t really win many [games] last year but hopefully [we will] do that this year.” 

First-year business student Jeremey Chen, a League of Legends player, said the goal this fall is “improving because there’s some weaknesses on how I play and how to communicate with others.” 

Second-year digital production student Zac Pinales said he’s glad to return to the squad.

“I want to try to get the full [esports] experience,” Pinales said.

The team competes in the Center for Applied Technology building on West Campus in Room 215.