Beeville, TX- The Coastal Bend College entered year to with a lot of new faces, with only two returning players in sophomores Alec Benavides and Jake Rosenbaum. The Cougars were by first year head coach Nolan Collins. Collins who made the transition from CBC women's basketball took over the program in June. This season the cougars roster only had one player from out of state, Jahmir Johnson from Buckeye, Arizona. "We are seeing a lot of interest in the locally. Collegiate eSports is continuing to grow, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger especially in this part of the country" Collins said. This Semester's team also included two international players as well, Andre da Costa and Eduardo Morschel both of Brazil.
The CBC eSports team competed in six different game titles; Rocket League, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Gunfight, Mario Kart 8 and FIFA 23. The six different games were played by 24 players and finished with a record of 44-65.
This semester saw two teams and one individual in two different game titles make the 2022 Fall NJCAAe playoffs. Alec Benavides and Jeffrey Paul made it the Call of Duty: Warzone. Alec and Jeffrey made up team warzone and went 4-3 and finished in fourth place in their group during the regular season and qualified as the number 28 seed in the 32 team NJCAAe National Tournament but, unfortunately lost their first-round playoff match to the number six seed from Garden City Community College in Kansas, 1-3.
Josh Cardenas, Jahmir Johnson and Ruby Hinojosa also qualified in Call of Duty: Warzone. Josh and Jahmir finished the regular season going 6-1 finishing in first place of their group and qualified as the number six national seed for the 32 team NJCAAe National Tournament. During the NJCAAe National Tournament Ruby joined Jahmir as a substitute and the duo won their first-round match against the Northwest College Trappers of Wyoming, 3-1. Next, they would face the number 22 seeded Southwestern Illinois College. Jahmir and Ruby hung close for all three games but ultimately fell 0-3.
Andre da Costa qualified in FIFA 23. Andre finished group play going 7-0 and winning group four. Andre qualified as the number one overall seed for the 24 team NJCAAe National Tournament and a bye to the second round. In the second round Andre would collect another win this time by forfeit as the opponent did not show up for the game. Andre's third round opponent would be against the number nine national seed from Westchester Community College out of New York. The match would go the complete five games, but Andre's season came to an end here losing the match 1-3-2.
Coastal Bend College eSports will be back in action next semester beginning January 17, 2023. CBC eSports is looking to build off their recent success and continue to compete at a high level. If you are interested in joining, click here Coastal Bend College eSports.