Stonehill has new plans to build an esports lounge in the Meehan School of Business.
The interest in an esports lounge comes after gaming club eboard members Jonathan Cook and Helen Cotrupi contacted the Stonehill administration last year. They put together a plan and discussed the potential of an esports lounge.
The gaming club has been looking to separate esports from the larger club. A split has been in the conversation for many years and started to take form in the 2023-2024 school year.
“Over the years, there has been light talk about getting this split to happen,” said Cotrupi.
After creating a plan, and doing research, the Stonehill administration agreed to talk with the two to further form the program.
“I had filled a notebook with numbers, statistics, and arguments for why we should have this area. And when I showed up and started talking, they were immediately on board,” said Cook.
The room is set up in two parts; A space for competing, which will have multiple desktops for people to play games, and a place to hang out.
Right now, Stonehill has two esports teams currently competing. Having a dedicated space for people to have access to desktop computers would lower the barrier of entry, and hopefully increase esports interest. In the past, there was a higher number of students competing within the program.
“By creating the room and hopefully making the program into its own thing under Rec Sports, we definitely hope to drum up interest for esports both within the college and to prospective students,” said Cotrupi.
Current plans are that the room would be accessible to anyone on campus who would like to play games, and then have hours for teams to practice and compete.
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