E-Sports
Western Wyoming Community College Adding Co-ed Esports Team
IS Lab computer arena. The computers the team will be using to compete with. Photo from Western
ROCK SPRINGS — Western Wyoming Community College announced Tuesday that it will add esports as its sixth varsity sport beginning in fall 2025.
Esports, one of the fastest-growing activities on college campuses, features online competitions between schools. The Western Mustangs will launch a co-ed team that will practice and compete against other institutions across the country.
According to the National Junior College Athletics Association Esports (NJCAA-E), “there are more than 400 high school and 300 college and universities currently supporting esports programs across North America and it is becoming clear that collegiate esports are paving the future of the Esports industry.”
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Esports began gaining traction in higher education in the early 2010s as colleges and universities recognized the popularity of competitive gaming and formed official teams. Many programs now foster both competition and career opportunities in the gaming industry.
“The addition of an Esports program within Mustang Athletics provides us with a great opportunity to extend the mission of Western Wyoming Community College to a wider audience,” said Lu Sweet, Western’s athletic director.
Esports student-athletes will be required to meet the same eligibility standards as other Mustang athletes, including being full-time, degree-seeking students, maintaining academic eligibility, and progressing toward a degree.
“We look forward to identifying our first head coach and working alongside that person to help guide our strategies for recruiting and developing our student-athletes,” Sweet said.
The team will compete in an upgraded gaming arena inside the Western IS Lab on the Rock Springs campus. League affiliation and specific game titles will be determined once a head coach is hired, the college said.