Here’s my thoughts on the current NA Collegiate CSGO scene. It’s a little lengthy, but I thought I’d spend some time and share my current feelings on the direction Collegiate CSGO is taking.

TL;DR:

Pros:

• Programs are designed to improve players, you’re not tossing away your future by attending a collegiate program
• Collegiate is the future of T2/T3 CS, because of its structure
• Develops people skills and leadership skills way faster than any other league
• Fantastic community
• Safety net of a degree should something go wrong on the path to pro

Cons

• Lack of a central TO
• No centralized list of programs makes it really challenging to find opportunities
• Relatively unfriendly to external viewers
• Prospective players have a hard time bridging the gap between ESEA league and college opportunities

Uniting Under a Single TO

Clubs and programs everywhere need to unite under one single collegiate TO. Because Valve won’t step in with an official league, it’s our responsibility to stop splitting resources and focus all our energy into performing with one organization.

Programs need to step back and reevaluate what they get out of competing through multiple leagues. Burnout is a real problem, and investing into a single league is important for a variety of reasons. As a result, the MTU Varsity team is planning on exclusively playing NACCS and ESEA in order to keep the team constantly improving with a healthy schedule.

Benefits of centralizing

• TO’s can operate under a healthier schedule (year long versus half — semester crowdedness), and as a result have a better format
• Copying ESEA Premier’s format w/ Bo3 East/West groups would be stellar
• More intense competition that matters more. On parallel with ESEA league importance, with accompanying prize pool
• A better viewer experience for a non-collegiate audience.
• Without consistent streams every week of the same teams at the same times, it makes it really challenging for external non-collegiate viewers to get into the scene in any serious capacity

From what I can tell, NACCS is the only NA Collegiate CS tournament organizer that actively works to push the legitimization of the scene. They’re constantly open to feedback, treat all programs (club or varsity) as an equal, and really push to use their small operating budget to the max that they can.

Player Development

It’s really important that players begin earnestly looking into the various clubs and opportunities around them. If you’re a burgeoning ESEA Adv player, the connections and skills you develop in college are all directly translatable to ESEA except you usually develop another important skill as well — humanity. You can’t just kick a player if they don’t perform well, so it develops people skills and leadership skills way faster than any other league.

One of the most underrated parts of collegiate is the fact that good varsity programs are designed to develop players. Even if you’re not the best or lack something critical to make the jump up to the next level, there are way more resources behind improving you than a conventional ESEA Main or even Mid/Low ESEA Adv team. You’re considered a player for at minimum 4 years, and if you’re not actively improving every single year by a good percent, something’s up. It’s not like you’re tossing your career away, you’re just taking an alternative route to the top.

I know this is the policy here at MTU and I’ve heard of similar stories at both Davenport Uni and Uni of New Haven, where players are always growing the longer they’re with the program.

Creation of a Master List

Someone somewhere needs to create a functional and easy to use master list of all the programs out there. As of right now I’m working on a varsity specific list, but there’s so many capable club teams around that should also be considered. Personally, I think the majority of higher-tier clubs should be endorsed at the same level as most varsity programs, because while they may not grant scholarships they still help to develop players and support the scene equally.

All of these guys are absolutely legendary and are working extremely hard to put collegiate on the map, from the club side of things. These are the kinds of programs that have built the foundation of collegiate CS and they’ll continue to have my full support on their quest to become legitimate varsity programs as well.

I’d like to specifically shout out a couple programs here that have really impressed me with their level of professionalism and class, even if they’re not contractually obligated to support the NA collegiate scene:

UCF Knights (twitter.com/EsportsatUCF) — Bluesky, Rascal, Steedle, bax41, kozz

RIT Tigers (twitter.com/RITesports) — MJB, K22G, Feral, Zxav, CorrupT

UCSD Tritons (twitter.com/UCSDesports) — Aegis, Wiz, DrHippo, PandaTM, sharpshootr

MSU Spartans (twitter.com/ECAofMSU) — Blade, Aidan, Input, Babenation, Aaronsfury

The Future of NA CS

With the future of NA’s T1/T2 scene still continuing to contract (especially with the collapse of C9 and the NA matchfixing scandals), collegiate presents a fresh alternative to the org-funded team cycle over the next few years, especially as current programs continue to grow and improve. Very few organizations will have the capital to challenge major institutions, making collegiate a healthy alternative to the standard grind to pro.

Obviously the most advantageous part of the collegiate programs is that they offer college degrees, which serve as an excellent backup plan post-Pro career or act as a safety net should something go wrong on your climb. With more and more schools joining the existing scholarship-granting varsity programs, it’s becoming more and more reasonable to receive some amount of competition for your CSGO skills, making it a no-brainer to set yourself up for long term success both in and out of the esports sphere of influence.

I also can’t leak too much, but I have some plans/programs on the way with notable industry leaders that should help the scene on the path to a collegiate semi-professional scene.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve made it this far, hopefully you guys will continue to support me and the community as we work to better the scene, one program at a time. I’d really like to thank Michigan Tech and my teammates for their support of my goals, in addition to every single collegiate player out there I’ve ever interacted with.

Obviously if anyone has any questions regarding collegiate, please feel free to reach out to me through twitter DMs or my discord, Koi#4362. If you’re a prospective player looking into your various options or just want help understanding how the scene as a whole works, please feel free to DM me.