President and Vice President of Texan E-Sports talk growth

BY HAELEY CARPENTER / Digital Media Director

E-sports, which is short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. E-sports are made up of multiplayer video game competitions played individually or as teams.

The Tarleton State University E-Sports club is led by President, Patrick Lacey and Vice President, Bryson Reagan. These men have poured their hearts and time into making the club a successful and welcoming place for students.

Lacey met with Jayce Thedford, a student government official and the president of the E-sports club at the time, Johnathan Thompson, to start doing bigger and better things for the club.

“I got on campus spring of 2022 and at the time the club had maybe 20 members total. We have surpassed 70 now,” Lacey said. “We are one of the larger clubs in the region.”

The club has grown tremendously since they started and they now have a $111,000 E-sports lounge on the bottom level of the Barry B. Thompson Student Center. They celebrated their grand opening of the lounge in September of 2023.

“It’s allowed that social element,” Lacey said. “We’ve seen a lot of people come out of their shells, people who wouldn’t typically get involved in student organizations find their place here.”

The lounge is open from 1pm to 5pm Monday through Friday for all Tarleton students.

Other accomplishments under Lacey and Reagan are their partnership with Redbull and the scholarships they started for gamers.

Reagan joined the E-sports Club in spring 2022 and became vice president in spring of 2023, working alongside Lacey who became president the same semester.

“It’s definitely my favorite thing I’ve done or been a part of,” Reagan said.

Reagan and Lacey both started gaming when they were in elementary school and Lacey got sponsored after high school and competed nationally for a few years. Lacey’s experience helps him teach and lead gamers.

Lacey and Reagan are proud of each gamer and do what they can to help them succeed.

“We can tell a distinct difference in people from when they first join and then after a semester,” Reagan said. “A lot of them have become leaders.”

The energy and vibe in the lounge is very chill and you can tell that everyone there is in their element.

“We’re really good about not taking it too seriously,” Reagan said. “It always stinks whenever we lose but people don’t get super upset or tilted, they know that it is just a game we can just go onto the next one. It’s the right amount of healthy competition.”

Players are put into teams based on past performance and a tryout system. Each team sticks to one game and plays that game throughout the whole season. The teams are Valorant, League of Legends, Rocket League, Overwatch2 and Rainbow Six Siege.

Valorant, League of Legends, Rainbow Six Siege and Overwatch2 teams made it to the playoffs, which kicked off on March 18. The Overwatch2 team, made up of Parker Curtis, Stephen Moffitt, Nicholas Crawford, Bradley Thomas and Bryson Reagan, won their semi-finals match during playoffs, pushing them to their conference finals. Their next match is April 11.

Texan E-sports have big plans for the future. 

“This is just the beginning, we are just getting started,” Lacey said. “It’s only a matter of time before E-sports in general gets picked up by the NCAA.”

To keep up with Texan E-Sports you can follow them on Instagram @texanesports and watch games live on YouTube with the same handle. 

Photo source: Shaylin Carter

The set up of computers in the lounge.