JMU Esports to join ECAC with X-Labs this spring | Sports

JMU Nation, meet the Dukes’ esports crew. 

JMU declared Feb. 7 that its X-Labs esports crew formally moved to the Jap Collegiate Athletic Convention (ECAC) as a official member. The announcement was the culmination of months of perform by 4-VA, the business liable for building X-Labs, and X-Labs Director Nick Swayne and Assistant Director Karris Atkins. As a partnership involving 8 universities, 4-VA  develops revolutionary new packages for each college, and X-Labs is JMU’s contribution to the plan.

“Last summer months, [Swayne] informed us he preferred to start off an esports system,” Atkins stated. “Immediately, my crew and I requested personal computers, begun designing and getting ready the place … studying the field and tradition … and conference our current communities on campus.”

All those communities ended up college student-operate golf equipment like Round 1 and PlayMU. These golf equipment could contend in distinctive gatherings with a sponsorship from a college member, but this new workforce competes in a much diverse surroundings. Fairly than the occasional, a single-off match, the ECAC is furnishing JMU pupils with the possibility to contend with other universities for a total time, akin to any JMU athletic plan. 

Senior Noah Rafky is now a co-captain on JMU’s Valorant group. Valorant is a well-known online sport that emerged on the esports scene in 2020. It is now one of the six online games that learners can contend in by JMU X-Labs. Rafky started out enjoying esports in higher college, making use of the competitiveness he formulated participating in basketball and tennis to the activity Counter-Strike. 

“I employed to never ever enjoy movie video games, but my twin brother obtained me into desktops,” Rafky claimed, “and from there, I joined his buddy group and commenced actively playing games with them and bought obsessed with Counter-Strike.”

Rafky inevitably

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Sun Belt expansion: Southern Miss, Old Dominion join conference with Marshall, FCS power expected to follow

The latest domino in the realignment bonanza has fallen, and the future of Conference USA is severely in doubt. Old Dominion announced Wednesday that it has accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference with the move coming no later than July 1, 2023. The Monarchs join Southern Miss, which announced its move to the Sun Belt on Tuesday.  

“While C-USA has proven to be an excellent home for ODU Athletics during our transition from FCS to FBS, and we thank the C-USA membership and leadership for such an outstanding partnership, the chance to enhance the overall athletic experience for the student-athletes, fans and alumni of ODU in the SBC with regional rivalries represents the perfect opportunity for the continued growth and evolution of ODU athletic programs in our pursuit of national prominence,” Old Dominion athletic director Wood Selig said in a statement. 

Old Dominion joined Conference USA as it transitioned to the FBS level during the 2014 football season. The program played football for a brief period in the 1930s, but ultimately folded before restarting a football team at the FCS level in 2009. Bobby Wilder led the program from inception until 2019, posting a 77-56 record between FCS and FBS, including a 10-win season in 2016. 

The program has struggled since the breakout season, however, posting an 11-32 record since 2017. Former Penn State offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne took over the program in 2020, but ODU opted not to play football during the pandemic season. A move to the Sun Belt — along with the potential rise of James Madison from the FCS ranks — gives the Monarchs significantly more regional partners in the Carolinas and Georgia. 

“We are thrilled to welcome Old Dominion University to the Sun Belt. ODU brings a host of strengths to our

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