How a University of Akron esports player could go pro in Valorant

At what point does a hobby become a professional gig? 

Owen Parks, a competitive gamer with the University of Akron’s esports program, may soon have an answer.

His game of choice? VALORANT, a tactical, first-person, team-based shooting game released in 2020 featuring dozens of in-game characters with unique skills and powers. Success in the popular and highly competitive game depends on deep knowledge of characters’ powers, the anticipation to counter an opponent’s moves and, of course, the ability to aim and move characters with a mouse and keyboard or controller.

Now, as Parks prepares for his first season on the collegiate level — he’s on the varsity team — he’s sorting out his game strategy.

“Normally I’m the one going in first,” Parks, 17, said. “Just running and killing everyone.” 

Parks joins more than 80 varsity players, many of whom receive partial scholarships for their joystick prowess. During this academic year, the varsity esports program will participate in fall and spring semester seasons, competing in six game titles against hundreds of colleges.

In a given season, some team members will play more than 400 competitive matches and spend 30 to 40 hours gaming every week. 

Since launching in 2018, the University of Akron’s esports program has won 35 national team titles, earning a reputation as a collegiate powerhouse. Nate Meeker, the program’s director, said that, in addition to varsity players, there’s between 500 and 600 students participating on the club level. The esports community accounts for as much as 4% of the university’s student enrollment. 

The esports program is part of a larger effort to engage and retain students at Akron. 

“They’re not joining fraternities and sororities at the same rate,” Meeker said. “… They’re not joining other clubs on campus at the same rates, but they’re all playing video games.” 

The program is so popular, Meeker said it turns down hundreds of students each year. And it’s more than games. 

Professional gaming, a small professional niche with a growing and dedicated fanbase, can be lucrative, with the best and most popular gamers earning millions through cash prizes, team salaries, streaming revenue and endorsements. According to Esports Earnings, there have been more than $295 million in cash prizes won in more than 22,000 U.S. tournaments. 

Earning a living playing video games — from Fortnite and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to Rocket League and VALORANT — represents one of several new-age career options. Other emerging industries include cybersecurity, automation, artificial intelligence and data science. 

The University of Akron doesn’t offer an esports major, but it does offer a certificate in esports business, and about half of its varsity gamers receive at least a partial scholarship, including Parks. 

Meanwhile, interest in history, philosophy, English and other humanities continues to decline nationally.

This year, the University of Akron will host the PlayFly College League’s national championship. 

Talk about a homefield advantage. 

‘Uncle Junior’ sparks Akron gamer’s collegiate career

Emilio Monge credits his uncle, Junior, with sparking his appetite for pixelated competition when he got him his first video game system, an XBox One. Not long after, he played Rocket League on a friend’s suggestion. 

Since then, he’s played almost every day. 

Like many high school kids, his parents didn’t approve of his gaming time. For a while, he wasn’t allowed to play the Xbox during weekdays — then he started earning cash money at small tournaments. 

As long as he kept his grades up, which he did, his parents allowed him to play during the week. 

For Monge, now an upperclassman on the University of Akron’s varsity Rocket League team, receiving a scholarship to play video games wasn’t seriously on his radar in high school. He initially wanted to play college baseball coming out of Elyria Catholic High School. 

“Once I realized I was getting way better at Rocket League than I was at baseball,” Monge said, “I started shifting my effort towards getting better at Rocket League.” 

(If you’re unfamiliar with Rocket League, think three-versus-three indoor soccer, but with supercharged cars that drive on walls instead of players.)

The shift in competitive focus has paid off. The junior exercise science major, who is on a partial esports scholarship, wants his squad to rank nationally in the Collegiate Rocket League. Last season, the University of Akron finished in the top 15 out of approximately 300 teams. And the team finished fourth after losing to Northwood University, the eventual champions of the PCL national championship. 

How to turn pro in esports: Parks says practice and technique

Parks knows the skill gap between the collegiate and pro levels is substantial. But he thinks he has a chance to bridge that gap — with practice and technique. 

How does one practice for competitive gaming, anyways? 

“Usually, you just come in,” Parks said, “you play a bunch of games, and you work on your actual skill, like, your control over the process stuff.” 

It’s largely an intellectual pursuit rather than a physical one. That’s why you won’t see the University of Akron’s esports teams running laps at the Lee R. Jackson Track and Field Complex. But you will find them studying the nuances of video games, developing strategies with their teams in one of four on-campus esports spaces. 

Monge doesn’t have pro ambitions. Instead, he plans to attend graduate school for chiropractic medicine. But he does want to continue to solidify the University of Akron as one of the nation’s elite esports institutions.

Said Monge: “I love just the camaraderie with my friends, and building bonds and building mental chemistry rather than just showing up.”