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Posted: Jun 30, 2022

Welliver to Lead Cayuga’s First Esports Team

Welliver to Lead Cayuga’s First Esports Team

A veteran gamer who spent the past two years coaching at Nassau Community College is now the head coach for the inaugural Esports program at Cayuga Community College. 

Gina Welliver, a 2018 graduate of Mount St. Mary College, arrives at Cayuga determined to build a successful program in one of the fastest growing collegiate sports. She brings with her not only a demonstrated record of success as a head coach for Esports, but also years of gaming enthusiasm.

Welliver has enjoyed gaming since receiving her first console, a Nintendo 64, when she was 4 years old. She hasn't looked back.

"It's been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember," she said. "Esports is so interesting because it's such a broad sport. You have students competing on the traditional sports games like 'Madden' and 'FIFA' right next to students who are playing first-person shooters like 'Fortnite' or 'Call of Duty.' There's something for every gamer."

In her first year at Nassau, the Lions featured almost 100 student-athletes simultaneously competing in 13 different games across four leagues. The team won three titles that year. She's hoping to have similar success at Cayuga, where she's already started recruiting student-athletes for the Fall 2022 semester.

Though the sport has obvious differences from more traditional athletic programs, Welliver noted that as a coach it presents similar challenges and opportunities. Just like other sports, Esports encourages students to build their individual skills without losing sight of the teamwork needed to succeed.

"It's definitely similar to other sports in that regard, where we're focusing on working as a team and improving our technical skills. But the biggest difference is that it's not as physical a sport. Much of Esports is mental preparation, practicing the small things, playing together and building chemistry," she said.

Another challenge, she noted, is that in Esports usually coaches aren't allowed to speak to players during games.

"We have an advantage as spectators, so usually we're not allowed to contact our teams during competition. So in a sense the players have to be able to coach themselves, and make the necessary adjustments once the game starts," she said.

In the team's first season, Cayuga will compete in two leagues, NJCAA Esports and SUNY Esports. The team will operate virtually off-campus, and will compete in the following games and systems:

  • Super Smash Bros (switch)
  • Call of Duty (Crossplatform)
  • Overwatch (PC/Crossplatform)
  • Valorant (PC)
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PC)
  • FIFA (PS4/PS5)
  • Madden (PS4/PS5)
  • NBA 2k (PS4/PS5)
  • Hearthstone (Xbox)
  • Fortnite (CrossPlatform)
  • Rocket League (Crossplatform)
  • Halo (Xbox/PC)
  • Rainbow Six Siege (PC/Console)