With the ever-growing popularity of video gaming, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, MCLA has capitalized on the rise of Esports and created a dedicated Esports team. There are a variety of games played in the Esports Club, including “Valorant”, “Rocket League”, “Super Smash Bros”, and more. As far as games go, there is something for everybody. As of recently, the Esports team has also acquired a head coach. Her name is Cheyenne Laszlo.
Cheyenne Laszlo has been working for MCLA since 2023, employed as the Area Coordinator for the Flagg Townhouse residence halls.
Over the course of her career, Laszlo has facilitated resident student’s safety at the Townhouses, and has played a large role in providing fun activities for everyone with the Res Life and Housing (RHA) organization, like the “Nails and Nurture” event on September 25th, and the “Taco Tuesday” event on October 8th.
On top of her other duties, Laszlo also serves on the Green Dot Committee. According to her, the Green Dot Committee “promotes positive social change and culture to help lessen sexual assault and domestic violence.”
At the beginning of the Fall 2024 semester, Laszlo stepped into the position of Head Coach of the Esports Lounge. She wanted to be the head coach for a few reasons. Perhaps most importantly, she believed that she fit right into the role. She was a video game player, the position opened up, and she believed in her ability to live up to it.
Laszlo also found it important to create a space for video game players to socialize. Not in a competitive manner, because video games, at their core, are meant to be played for fun. This way, Laszlo hopes, more people will join the team and potentially, those new players will find a group that they can connect with.
In her time with MCLA, Laszlo has encountered some people who are not as socially active as their fellow students. These students would usually hole themselves up in their room and be alone. Laszlo wanted to create a safe space for these individuals to come to and to make friends through gaming. As she put it, she wanted people to “be introduced to each other through these teams just by being like, ‘wow, you like this game.'”
For students interested in joining the Esports team, the gaming lounge can be found in the Athletics Department in Amsler Campus Center. The gaming lounge is open during business hours, 9-5 on weekdays, for anyone who wants to use the machines. Laszlo is also in charge of all the Esports teams, which she says “we are working on finalizing right now.”
Back in 2020, when the team was first created by Justin McDowell, there were no real competitive teams. The Esports team didn’t have enough members to start. Now, in 2023, with Laszlo as head coach, the team is looking to “have at least three to five teams this year for different games”. These games include Rocket League, Super Smash Bros., Valorant, Overwatch 2 and Rainbow 6 Siege. With all of these teams, the Esports team is able to join a league, and compete, in Spring 2025.
Laszlo has no experience competing in Esports, but that does not matter to her. All she cares about is ensuring everyone enjoys themselves. That is the point of a video game. As she put it, “Not competing, just having fun” is the energy she wants to bring to the club.
Anyone is allowed to join the Esports team, regardless of experience level. Laszlo encourages anyone interested to give it a shot.
Although Laszlo is a relatively new faculty member here at MCLA, she has everyone’s best interests at heart. To new students, she recommends getting “more comfortable with the environment because this is a small school … and looking and trying to find people of similar interest” The Esports team is a great example of what Laszlo is saying, and how she’s putting it into practice. She is making the Esports team available to anyone to help students connect with each other through their passion of gaming.
