Seton Hall is bringing intramurals from the turf of Owen T. Carroll Field and the hardwood of the Richie Regan Recreation & Athletics Center to the video screens.
For the first time in school history, Seton Hall is offering video game intramurals. Beginning with Madden NFL 20 in the fall, Seton Hall is tying in eSports to its full slate of intramural sports which includes flag football, floor hockey, volleyball, basketball, soccer and dodgeball.
“I’ve been working pretty closely with the eSports club as a whole here at Seton Hall,” said assistant director of recreational Services Dustin DeLorenzo. “We’ve entered in competitions in the past. We’ve done Rocket League and League of Legends with the Big East. From there, I went to a couple of conferences and I found out eSports is really popular. I wanted to give it a try in intramurals, so I met with a couple of guys who ran their league and I’m going to do it very similar to them.”
DeLorenzo’s plan is to keep the video game intramural offered a certain time in line with the intramural sport being played at that same time. As DeLorenzo oversees flag football in the fall, basketball in the winter and indoor soccer in the spring, the video game for each respective sport will be made available for students to play in a competitive setting.
“I’m going to do it with what sport I’m doing,” DeLorenzo said. “I’m doing flag football, so I’m doing intramural Madden. For basketball I’ll do NBA 2K20 and for soccer I’ll do FIFA 20. I’m going to see how it goes and go from there.”
Interest in intramural video games is right where DeLorenzo expected it to be to start. With the program being in its infant stages, DeLorenzo is looking to build from the ground up to ensure that eSports intramurals become a sustainable practice at Seton Hall.
“I’ve got 12 people signed up for the Madden league,” DeLorenzo said. “I don’t think that’s terrible for the first time ever doing something. I think 12 is a pretty solid number to start. If everything goes well, I think we’ll get a bigger number for 2K and FIFA. I do think 2K and FIFA is more popular amongst people, so I don’t think 12 is too bad.”
As for the setup of the league itself, games will be played with a traditional Madden ruleset. The games will also be played in student dorm rooms, a stark contrast from all of Seton Hall’s other intramural sports.
“The games are going to be played in the dorms. They can be played online, they can be played in person, it doesn’t matter to me,” DeLorenzo said. “The only thing is if they have to come to an agreement on how you want to play. For example, if me and you can’t agree on playing on Xbox or PlayStation, I’ll pick for you. Right now, the players are in three groups of four and everyone has to play each other once. You have a week to do that and they’re going to email me the results.”
Student response to the league has been relatively positive, although many are unsure of the league’s nuances since it is just off the ground. With that being said, students are happy that Seton Hall is taking steps to include all types of activities are made available to students – not just traditional athletic intramural sports.
“A lot of people take part in athletic intramurals to begin with. Mixing video games in will attract a bigger audience,” said Alex Matai, a senior sports management major. “It will allow for more participation among students and create a surging interest in intramurals. This is also a big step in the right direction because the growth in video games allows for a different type of audience attraction since playing video games has become a religion among young adults.”
Some students also feel that the inclusion of eSports into intramurals provide those who don’t participate in traditional sports to enter a competitive setting that plays to their strengths.
“I think Seton Hall is going in the right direction by providing eSports,” said Joe Ippolito, a senior finance major. “It’s more inclusive to the entire student body and eSports already has a large following, so why not start including it in intramurals? It provides a great opportunity for students that don’t want to play traditional sports, but still want to compete with others.”
Whether or not Seton Hall’s venture into video game intramurals becomes a successful one remains to be seen. Regardless, there’s no denying the palpable buzz surrounding the start of something new at The Hall.
“If you are playing against people in a competitive setting, it’s always fun,” Matai said. “It will be a fun experience for anyone and I feel that I would miss out on a fun opportunity if I didn’t take part in video game intramurals.”
Tyler Calvaruso can be reached at tyler.calvaruso@student.shu.edu. Find him on Twitter @tyler_calvaruso.
