Pratt, Kan. - After a historic fall semester season, the Pratt Community College (PCC) esports team is ready to return to action this week with the Unified Collegiate League (UCL). Three teams (Overwatch, Rocket League, and Valorant) will be in action as part of the UCL starting on Monday, Feb. 9. The teams' other two game titles (League of Legends and Madden) will begin their season the following week with the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE) season kicking off on Monday, Feb. 16.
The Beaver Rocket League teams get underway first with two matches on Monday, Feb. 9 against the Pennsylvania State University Team Black and Radford University. Last season, the team finished in the top six teams in UCL and fourth in the NJCAAE central region. This semester, the team will compete in the newly created Meridian Collegiate Conference which was established by players from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Pratt will compete in the northern conference against power four schools across the Midwest region. They will open non-conference play against California State University-Fullerton (CSUF).
“Our Rocket League game captain was approached by members of the UNL team to join this new conference and after looking at the league we decided to join,” said head esports coach Charles Keefer. “I am excited to see what the team can do against much larger schools as it is a great opportunity to grow our program, but get our players noticed by other schools”
On Wednesday, Feb. 11, the Overwatch team will open their spring season against Mt. Saint Mary’s University at 6:00 p.m. Last season, the Overwatch team finished in the top eight in both the UCL and NJCAAE. That same evening, the Valorant team opens their season against the Pennsylvania State University Team White. Last season the Valorant team finished third in the UCL and won the NJCAAE D1 national championship.
“I am excited to kick off our Overwatch and Valorant season on Tuesday night,” said coach Keefer. “I have high expectations for both teams this semester and I am excited to see what they can accomplish.”
You can watch all the action live on twitch.tv/pccesports or at twitch.tv/pccesports2.