Lee Patterson

Florida Southern esports has joined the 2020 Peach Belt Conference for League of Legends. 

The Peach Belt Conference, which has been hosting esports events since 2018, has welcomed Florida Southern College as associate members for this year’s League of Legends tournament. 

FSC began its esports journey in 2018 when it became the first college in Florida to have an official varsity esports team. League of Legends  was one of the starting rosters introduced, but this is the first year they’ve participated in the Peach Belt Conference. 

“It’s nice that some people recognize the program now,” esports player Anna Patterson said, “I’m hoping we will continue to grow, and that it will become something Florida Southern is known for.”

The Peach Belt Conference hosts a number of athletic events including cross country, tennis, baseball, and most recently esports. 

Since 2018, the conference has added to their lineup for esports, giving them a total of 16 teams for this year’s tournament. This includes last year’s winners, USC Aiken, who Florida Southern has already faced in their first game of the season.

Florida Southern, along with North Georgia, are at the top of the rankings with six wins. The top teams are closely followed by USC Aiken and Montevallo. After the finals of the Peach Belt Conference, the top two teams will have the opportunity to advance to the collegiate League of Legends National Playoffs. 

Florida Southern’s League of Legends team versed USC Aiken and Young Harris in their first games of the series. The Mocs won both games 2-0 and were able to do the same the following weekend against Georgia Southwestern and Hawaii-Pacific. This past weekend, the Mocs also took their matches against Harrison State and Lander University, leaving FSC as one of two teams that’s currently undefeated.

“Last week was really good because we had some really decisive wins, were in control of all the games and communicated uncharacteristically well,” esports player Chris Vickers said. “If we can continue to do that we’ll go really far this tournament.” 

The esports team is currently scheduled for games until March 21. Despite their success in the first weeks of the tournament, Vickers explains that the team is trying to treat every game with the same respect to avoid getting overconfident and dropping a game.

The rise of The Mocs esports scene has been one that’s up and coming, but has become more prevalent over the last few semesters, as the program is reaching out and participating in increasingly more tournaments. The goal is that the teams will continue to perform and increase interest in the sport among Florida Southern College students.

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