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Remember when parents used to say that their kids would get nowhere playing video games?
That is no longer the case.
Saxony Lutheran senior Connor Brewer, son of Tim and Angie Brewer of Perryville, recently signed a letter of intent for an esports scholarship at Central Methodist University.
“I really had no idea that was possible,” Brewer said of the scholarship.
Brewer’s father Tim seconded that emotion and sentiment.
“I really didn’t know that was even possible,” Tim Brewer said. “It was really the first time I had really heard of anything like that.”
Esports describes the world of competitive, organized video gaming. Competitors from different leagues or teams face off in the same games that are popular with at-home gamers. It is a relatively new concept even for Central Methodist, who is in its second year in the space.
According to Central Methodist esports coach Aaron Shockley, CMU competes nationally against schools in NCAA Division I, II, III as well as NAIA and NJCAA. They currently compete in six games (Overwatch, Rocket League, League of Legends, Hearthstone, Fortnite and Rainbow 6 Seige) and have over 35 players competing on the university esports roster.
“We recruit students from all over the United States by going to tournaments and building relationships with high school coaches,” Shockley said. “To be on scholarship for esports is just like traditional sports in the sense that the student athlete has a commitment to academics as well as to their game.“
The next question is how exactly does a student find such a scholarship? For most mainstream sport scholarships they are recruited, but for Brewer it was more like he found them.
Brewer went to a college fair at Southeast Missouri State University and walked up to the Central Methodist table, where he was first exposed to the idea of esports.
“I really didn’t think much of it,” Brewer said.
It wasn’t until Central Methodist came to Saxony Lutheran on a college visit. Brewer was the only student to attend the visit. The Central Methodist representative recognized Brewer and invited him to a tryout.
The rest is history.
According to Tim Brewer, the scholarship is for $8,000 per year, the most that Central Methodist has given out for an esports scholarship. Brewer noted that the average amount for that type of scholarship is between $3,000-$5,000. Connor will be on the Rainbow 6 Siege team.
“It was kind of a surreal thing,” Tim Brewer said. “They wanted to see if he was any good, I guess and they put him on a computer with a keyboard and mouse, and Connor said he wasn’t used to playing that way, so they fit him with a controller. Connor played against the team captain in Rainbow 6 and killed him four straight times without any trouble. It seemed to really impress them.”
But like most parents, Connor’s father was more concerned with the academic side of things, which he was quite impressed with as well.
“They have rules that you have to keep a certain grade point average and complete your school work and attend classes or you can’t be on the team,” Tim Brewer said. “That’s nice to see that they focus on school as well.”
Like most extracurricular scholarships, Connor will pair his love of video games with a computer science major, with an emphasis in Cybersecurity.
“Technology and that sort of thing has always fascinated me my whole life,” Connor Brewer said. “I really just enjoy helping people with their computer problems.”
What he won’t have a problem with is his parents coming to him and saying to stop playing video games.
“Connor came to me one day and said, ‘see dad playing video games did pay off.” Tim Brewer said.
