Derrick Hornbaker ’23, staff writer

Within the growing esports program at LVC, a long-dormant team has rejoined the fray.

For as long as esports have been a part of LVC, teams for numerous games have competed at the top level of collegiate esports, but for many years there was one game that was notably lacking from competition.

“League of Legends” is, by many accounts, the largest esport in the world, but for past few years, LVC was lacking a team to compete in the game. That all changed when Nicholas Maldonado, an LVC freshman, decided to revive it.

“When I first saw that our esports department had ‘League of Legends’ before I came, I decided to sign up right away,” said Maldonado. “Though when I first got here, I found out there was only one other player, and that was Qinhao Jin. Most of the team had disbanded or graduated, so there wasn’t anyone else.”

Despite this disappointing revelation, Maldonado wasn’t discouraged. He worked with Qinhao to promote the team and find interest around campus, putting out feelers for those who might be interested in joining.

“Jin is a senior, and therefore this is his last year here, and I wanted him to play at least one more time or get the opportunity to play once more,” Maldonado said.

For a few months at the beginning of the search, there was no word of any interest, but before too long, the team had interest from their second player, Josiah Ebersole.

“Eventually, I found out that the person I lived next to at my dorm, Michai Figueroa, also wanted to join the team,” Maldonado said.

The “League of Legends” team was quickly coming together, but there was still a ways to go before it was completely ready. To field a full roster, a team needs at least five players, and up to this point, there were only four. So close to the end, this was the point Maldonado put all he could into the search. Thankfully, his answer wasn’t too far away.

“I eventually found out that one of my classmates from the ‘Rainbow Six: Siege’ team wanted to join, and he was going to have two others join as well because they were interested,” Maldonado said.

The three new players were Syryth Mitchell, Joseph Beidler and Jacob Marsh.

With the team all together, it was just a matter of scheduling. Working with the head coach of esports program, Elliot Kleckner, the team got everything set up and have been working hard to be the best they can be ever since.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a struggle since I’m new to running a team, and on top of that I’m a freshman still getting into the swing of college, but I would say each minute was worth it,” Maldonado said. “I enjoy watching my teammates grow as players, and I enjoy knowing that I played in at least one game that was streamed and we won. We still struggle here and there with times and all, but that’s just how this stuff works. I can’t wait until I see the day where we can all play and win a game no matter what the line-up is. I have bright hopes for our team later in the future.”