Kodiaks launch esports studio prepped for ECAC play

By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on January 25, 2023.

Herald photo by Ry Clarke Bradley Pike (first-year and captain of the Valorant team) practices a quick match in Valorant, honing his skills for upcoming tournaments as the Eastern College Athletic Conference season nears, Tuesday at Lethbridge College

The Lethbridge College Kodiaks esports team is ready to log in and gear up as they enter into the winter season preparing for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) on January 31.

Starting off strong the Kodiaks will be geared out in their new home base, a state-of-the-art esports studio in the Andrews Building, along with new players as they embark on the semester.

One year previously, the esports team was in a trial season, competing out of a repurposed Virtual Reality computer lab. Now they have a new high-tech esports studio, along with being welcomed into the Kodiaks Athletics family over the summer of 2022.

“It was something we talked about pre-pandemic, and then during the pandemic, the ACAC (Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference) was looking at as a sport,” said Todd Caughlin, manager of Athletics and Recreation Services, during a tour of the new facility on Tuesday morning. “We were lucky enough to get support from our senior leadership to say, yeah let’s go with it.”

The Kodiaks esports team is comprised of three teams for each game, Valorant, League of Legends, and Rocket League.

“The players here, for all the games, have to have an extreme amount of focus, extreme amount of talent, and the ability to communicate on the fly and adapt to any situation, because if they don’t, well – they lose,” said Justin Garrick, coach for the Kodiaks esports team. “As a coach, I want the teams to be able to focus without any distractions. We have one to two practices per week, per team. Then we have one match each week per team. I encourage the players to practice outside of the scheduled times because that is required to compete professionally.”

With a new space for dedication to their craft, the esports team is ready for anything, as long as the internet is connected.

“It is incredible, the room is just insane. These computers, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Everything kind of leveled up,” said Bradley Pike, first-year student in the Computer and Information Technology program.

Pike is also the Valorant team captain and advanced with his team to the ECAC Open playoff in the fall season. He also led his high school esports team at LCI to a national title in the Canadian True North Esports League during his senior year, earning him a scholarship to join the Kodiaks.

“I see a lot of other schools showing interest, and I think that’s the biggest sign of growth with our community. We are getting messages from other teams to scrim with us and learn from us,” said Pike.

With a new space and a new season beginning, the Kodiaks will look to grow and expand their esports team.

“The way it is going to expand, and one of the things we are really excited about in the vision is, we would love to host a national, maybe international, events in our gym. We have got HD cameras, projectors, staging,” said Caughlin. “It’s a whole different level of excitement, they are part of our family and we say, once a Kodiak, always a Kodiak.”