On Apr. 26, Concord University came to Greenbrier West High School and hosted an Esports competition, where students participated in various games including Super Mario Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Rocket League, and many other popular games.
Austin Clay and Justin Smith are a part of the Concord University Esports program. As kids they both started out playing games like Mario, and as they grew older, so did their passion for Esports. Austin Clay is 24 years old and started playing Pokemon when he was just 3 years old; he was very intrigued in these games, thus making him go into strategy games. When he started college, his friend had an online gaming community in which he participated in and made his love for the games stronger.
Justin Smith is 33 years old, started out playing on the Atari. He has carried on his love for gaming and made it into his career. He has hosted many online gaming events and later turned to Concord to become a part of their Esports community. Austin and Justin’s goal is not only to get students to Concord, but for them to follow in their dreams in Esports. They both have taken the initiative to become a part of the gaming community, and help others follow their passion.
Now that they have become a part of Concord, they have become more passionate to help students do the same. They came down to take part in helping and encouraging kids to engage in this type of sport. It may not be the most physically demanding sport, but it is still just as important as football or basketball in the sense that they still have to take care of themselves just like an athlete.