Welcome to the NMC Esports Program!

Northwestern Michigan College’s Varsity esports team began competition in Fall 2021 in the NJCAA-E. For the upcoming 2025-2026 season, we will be competing in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). We are recruiting players for Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, College Football, Football Club, Fortnite Build, Fortnite Zero Build, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Marvel Rivals, Madden NFL, MLB The Show, NBA 2K, Overwatch 2, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Street Fighter, Teamfight Tactics, Tekken 8, Valorant, Coaching, Casting, Graphic Design, and more.

Teams practice and compete in the Esports Lab in the Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center.

Follow the varsity Team online!

• Discord: discord.gg/g5ZypdYfdu
• YouTube: youtube.com/NMCEsports
• Twitch: twitch.tv/nmcesports
• X(Twitter): twitter.com/esportsnmc
• Instagram: instagram.com/hawkowlesports
• Facebook: facebook.com/HawkOwlsEsports/

Find game schedules here

View the team roster here

Learn about NMC's new Esports Management Certificate!

 

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Esports?

  • Esports describes the world of competitive, organized video gaming. Competitors from different teams or leagues compete in games like Rocket League, Overwatch, League of Legends, Rainbow Six, and EA Sports titles. In 2020, the global Esports audience was 586 million, more than double 2015 figures. It had overtaken the combined audience of American professional football and rugby and was poised to overtake baseball. Prize money won in tournaments has soared from $4 million in 2009 to $173 million in 2019, and the number of professional athletes tripled between 2014 and 2019.

• What are the benefits of collegiate Esports?

  • Similar to other collegiate sports, esports provides the opportunity for students to grow their skills in communication, teamwork, collaboration, critical thinking, and time management. It can give students a way to connect with other students in the college community and it can provide an opportunity to transfer to a four-year university that also has an esports program.

• Are scholarships available?

  • Yes! Student-athletes can receive up to $1,000 in total scholarship money for use towards courses and tuition ($500 for Fall and $500 for Spring semesters) and get dedicated coaching and development. Students must maintain 12+ credits in order to receive the scholarship

• What are Esport Athlete Requirements?

  • Student-athletes must be high school graduates, be enrolled part-time or full-time at NMC (8+ credits or more), and maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA.

• Will there be travel involved for competitions?

  • Most competitions and tournaments will occur online, but there may be opportunities to participate in LANs hosted by other colleges.

• Do I have to be a certain rank to join?

  • We are currently looking at all applicants. If you do not currently have a rank for the game you are interested in playing, we highly recommend that you perform your ranked placement matches to determine skill level.

• Can students join the team in a non-competing role?

  • Yes! We are always looking for students that are interested in coaching, casting, and graphic design.

• What is the time commitment to be an esports athlete?

  • Student-athletes will have a set practice schedule and competitions every week during the season. As scholarship athletes, they will be expected to attend assigned practice times and competitions. Advising will work with students to design a schedule that works around these time commitments. The typical commitment amount is around 4-5 hours split between 2 days within each week. Students are guaranteed a 7 round (7 week) season with playoffs yielding up to 3-4 more weeks of play. Each season is played within a single semester.