Centralia College’s new esports coach, Brent Shepherd, is already making big plans for the team, the college announced in a news release earlier this week.
The longstanding gaming team has a dedicated arena space in the TransAlta Commons room 339, but Shepherd wants to add a dedicated stream room so students can expand their skills and gain a wider audience, according to the news release.
“A designated stream room would be a place for our students to learn about shout casting. Shout casting is the esports equivalent of broadcasting a sporting event,” Shepherd said. “This would also give the esports team a more official way to be seen through twitch.com. Twitch is one of the main streaming platforms used in esports. By having a designated stream room the esports team would be able to reach people across the nation and have a way to reach out to fans while giving them a high-quality product.”
In addition, Shepherd is open to expanding the team into new games, according to the release. The team is already competitive in Overwatch, League of Legends, Hearthstone, Smash Ultimate, Rocket League and Valorant, but “Shepherd doesn’t want to be too limited,” he stated in the news release.
“If there are games that students would like to compete in that aren’t listed, I am open to hearing other suggestions,” he said. “One game that has gotten a lot of interest is Call of Duty, which I would love to have as an option for the school and our athletes.”
Shepherd came to Centralia College by way of the University of Jamestown in North Dakota, where he played collegiate Overwatch and baseball. In addition to his esports coaching duties, Shepherd is a college navigator and helps all of Centralia College student athletes succeed, according to the news release.
For example, Shepherd organizes study halls, monitors class attendance and helps student athletes access campus resources.
Shepherd is currently recruiting players for Centralia College’s esports team. All full time students, including Running Start students, are eligible to play and scholarship funds may be available.
“I want esports to stay as open as possible to the community of Centralia College and Washington as a whole,” Shepherd said. “Even if people do not want to compete in an esport, if they want to be a fan or learn more about it, I would love to talk to them and teach them about it.”
For more information, contact Shepherd via email at brent.shepherd@centralia.edu or stop by Centralia College’s esports arena in TAC 339 or the Student Life and Involvement Center in TAC 137.
