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Dalton Noftsger is a junior at the University of Michigan pursuing a degree in computer science. He's also a member of the Michigan varsity Overwatch team where he goes by his screen name “Flippy.” Dalton is one of the squad's damage players, specializing in characters like Tracer, Hanzo and Cassidy. 

Collegiate Esports is a rapidly growing industry that a lot of universities are joining in on in recent years. In this interview, Dalton speaks on some of the common workings of college Esports programs, as well as gives his opinion on the future of college Esports and his experience as a member of the team. 

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How did you get into college Esports/what drew you to this team?

I've always enjoyed playing video games growing up. It was always a passion of mine. I was also a very competitive person, so after hearing about our team at Festifall, which is our largest student organization fair, I tried for the team and went through the process of trying to join, and the rest is history. 

What are some things that incoming Esports athletes can expect?

For time spent on an average day  it's going to be different depending on the team. For us specifically, we're usually required around 10-12 hours a week on top of our normal academic schedule. Part of that is dedicated to scrims and matches with the team, and the rest is outside of that where you work on yourself and improve your own gameplay. 

For the competitions we compete in it's similar to normal sports. We have our swiss rounds that we go through for tournaments and then we have to make it to playoffs to make it to win the whole thing and win money. 

Most of our coaches are actually students at the university or students from other universities. We have had professional coaches from professional teams come to help us with coaching in the past. 

Related: Dan Marino, Esports Head Coach at Ball State University, on the Rise of Esports

Does your school offer scholarships for Esports?

For our school, no, not currently, which is sad to say. We are working on changing that. We're hoping that in the future we will because a lot of colleges do offer scholarships for Esports, so we're hoping our university can also do that in the future. [Scholarships] are a rapidly growing thing for Esports. 

What kind of facilities are common for college Esports teams to have?

For a lot of universities, they have dedicated Esports buildings where they have all the necessary computers and supplies they need to play their game. Our college doesn't currently have an Esports building, but it could possibly be something for the future, but we don't have that right now. Right now it's all online. 

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What does your school do to support the Esports program?

Actually, until about a year ago we were just a student club, but we did get officially transitioned to being a fully supported organization for the university. They do support us and give us some funding for stuff like tournaments and all that. I don't really know the specifics because I'm just a player. 

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What kinds of competitions do you compete in? 

Like I said, we do the normal tournaments. The big one that we compete in is the Overwatch Collegiate Championship. We also do things like show matches. Not too long ago we did a show match against Ohio State, which we won. It depends. We find whatever we can find and we compete in it. 

Tell me about the growth you have seen in collegiate Esports as a whole since you joined the team?

It's growing very, very fast. Like I said, we did transfer from being just a club to being an actual university organization, so that's a big step. We even got sponsored by RedBull last year. That just goes to show that this could be something big. The environment also changes. We're becoming more professional, because we're sponsored by the university and we want to make sure we're looking good for them and that we're acting professionally. It's all very rapidly growing and becoming more of a professional level thing. 

In your opinion, what does the future of college Esports look like?

If I had to look around a decade or two in the future, I could see it being just as large as other sports for universities such as football. There's millions of people who play video games, so I wouldn't be surprised if it grew into this massive franchise just like any other sport. 

How has being part of the Esports team impacted your college experience overall?

It's been an amazing part honestly. It's been a really important part of my college experience. I've met so many amazing people , many of whom I will definitely still be friends with even after I'm done with college and am no longer on the team. I've learned a lot from playing on the team and had many awesome opportunities that I wouldn't have had if I didn't join. 

What do you have to say to schools that haven't joined in on the rise of Esports yet? Do you think more schools should have Esports teams?

Absolutely. Like I said, in the next decade or two I expect that it's going to be an absolutely massive franchise. It's definitely something that colleges should be looking to get in on, as it will grow and it will be profitable. That's what we hope for. As it grows there will be more funding and more prizes for these tournaments. What we're trying to transfer to is turning Esports into a path to pro thing for college like it is for football or other sports. You go to college and then if you're good enough you make it to pro after that. Currently it's not like that as much, but once the colleges get more on it, then college [Esports] will be the path to [becoming a] professional. 

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* Originally published on June 16, 2022, by Tyler Traskos