É«ÇéÎåÔÂÌì

Earlier this year, É«ÇéÎåÔÂÌì launched its first athletics initiative: the É«ÇéÎåÔÂÌì Esports team. We recently paid the team a visit to see how the program is coming along and what members have been up to since opening last month.

The team is led by Coach Demeiko Merriweather, who had this to say about the program:

“The first thing to know about Esports is that it’s more than just playing video games. It is a community built on teamwork, communication, strategy, leadership, and healthy competition. Just like traditional athletics, esports give students opportunities to develop valuable skills, build lasting friendships, and represent their school with pride.

At É«ÇéÎåÔÂÌì, we’re excited to build an esports program that welcomes everyone. Whether you’re a competitive player, someone who enjoys gaming casually, or simply looking for a place to connect with others through shared interests, we want to create a community where students can grow, belong, and succeed both in and out of the game.”
— Demeiko Merriweather, Esports Coach

The club is held in É«ÇéÎåÔÂÌì’s state-of-the-art game room, which is outfitted with a plethora of PlayStation consoles and gaming PCs for members to use. Games in rotation include fighting games like Street Fighter 6, hero shooters like Marvel Rivals, and classic first-person shooters like Call of Duty, giving members plenty of variety no matter what their preferred genre. The space is designed not just for competitive practice, but as a casual hangout spot where students can drop in, meet new people, and unwind between classes.

The club currently consists of around a dozen members but is growing quickly and is actively recruiting more players to continue building the team. Coach Merriweather and the club’s early members hope that as word spreads across campus, more students, whether seasoned competitors or first-time gamers, will stop by to see what the program has to offer.

“I think the best thing about the Drake Esports program is how open it is to everybody,” said Jackson Krebs, a freshman Nursing major. “There’s a game for everybody. There’s a person for everybody in there to connect with, and that’s probably my favorite thing about it.”

With a welcoming community, top-notch equipment, and a coach dedicated to helping students grow both as players and as people, É«ÇéÎåÔÂÌì’s Esports program is off to a strong start. As the club continues to recruit new members and build its competitive presence, it is shaping up to be one of the campus’s most exciting new additions. It is proof that É«ÇéÎåÔÂÌì is leveling up in more ways than one.