HARTSVILLE, S.C. - The Coker College Esports program announced on Tuesday (Mar. 6) that they have become members of the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE).

The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) is a nonprofit membership association organized by and on behalf of member institutions. Together, members are developing the structure and tools needed to advance collegiate esports in the varsity space. They are collaborating to lay the groundwork in areas such as: Eligibility, Path to Graduation, and Competition & Scholarships. NACE is the only association of varsity esports programs at colleges and universities across the U.S.

NACE officially formed on July 28, 2016 at the first ever Collegiate Esports Summit held in Kansas City, MO. At that time only seven colleges and universities had varsity esports programs. Since then a rapidly growing number of institutions have launched varsity programming, with a current count of 63 institutions. As of January 2017, over 94% of all varsity esports programs in the U.S. are members of NACE with an ever increasing number of schools exploring esports.

"I am very excited to be joining NACE and getting the opportunity to work together with all chapters," said Coker Director of Esports Joseph Rudy. "NACE is providing structure to the collegiate Esports scene that is desperately needed as the scene is rapidly expanding."

The Coker College Esports team will begin competing in the 2018-19 school year and becomes the 24th varsity sport at Coker. The Cobras will be competing in competitions held by uLoL, Tespa, CSL, and more. The Navy and Gold is currently putting together an Esports team for League of Legends, Overwatch, and Hearthstone.

If you would like to get more information about the Cobra Esports team, click here to fill-out a prospective student-athlete questionnaire and if you have any questions, send an email to jrudy@coker.edu. You can also stay up to date with the Coker College Esports team by signing up for email and text notifications. Start your subscription by clicking here!