Esports student athletes who excel at playing one of four different video games in Concordia University Texas' new varsity esports arena are about to meet the competition. The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) season begins January 20.

Student teams in Rocket League, League of Legends, Overwatch, and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate will participate in remote matches from the university's own professional-level gaming stations. Spectators can watch the competition from the lounge area in the arena or through twitch.tv/ctxesports.

The first SCAC match will pit the Concordia Tornados skilled in Rocket League with Schreiner University at 6:30 p.m. on January 23. Season play will continue through March 20 against the other seven SCAC teams.

"Our players are really looking forward to the competition that the SCAC will bring to our program" explains Concordia coach Marc Valdoria. "We're excited to build and establish local rivalries with other universities who also share the same passion in esports. "

Six of the eight SCAC esports teams are in Texas; two are in Colorado. All eight teams will end their season in a showdown live at Schreiner University on March 27-28.

"Our first showdown in 2019 had over 100 players, a giant screen, and esports students providing streaming commentary for spectators," said SCAC commissioner Dwayne Hanberry. "We're planning for more than 150 players at the 2020 showdown." Three of the games will occur entirely at the showdown; League of Legends will require some remote play first with final matches in person due to length of game.

"The showdown is great because it gets players out of their gaming studios and facing each other eye to eye," added Hanberry. "It's so important for student athletes to meet each other and say 'May the best player win.'"

Now in its second year of esports, Hanberry said the league is likely to grow to 16 schools over time in order to make divisional play possible.

Concordia started the first varsity esports program of its kind in Central Texas in August 2019. The Austin campus joins more than 100 colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada to offer esports teams. For more information on the Concordia program, visit www.concordia.edu/esports .