Greetings! My name is Nathan Rodemeyer, and I represent one half of the esports programs at Marshalltown Community College, the other half being coach Andrew Goforth. I’d like to take you on a journey and share the story of MCC’s esports programs over the last year.

First, I want to clarify that MCC has an athletic esports program and an academic one. My first role at MCC is professor. I develop and teach courses in “Esports Program Management,” a program that serves as the only associates degree of its kind in the state. I prepare students for careers in esports with roles like event planner, coach, and broadcaster to name a few.

My goal is to learn by doing, and we’re meeting that expectation. We’ve served as the official broadcasting partner for three state high school esports championships, hosted guest speakers, run tournaments and clinics, and more, and the academic program is tripling from six students to eighteen!

Now, for the athletic program. Our first hurdle was tryouts! (We actually had many trials before tryouts, but we’ll start here!) Andrew and I had no idea what to expect. We wanted to assess mechanical skill, but also communication and teamwork, as none had competed as part of an esports team. In the end, we gained over twenty students across four games, including many talented walk-ons.

Continuing the trend, we weren’t sure what to expect from year one, but our goal was simple: win as many games as we lose. To accomplish this, we ran things like a traditional sports team. Frequent, intentional practices, drills, video review, and a focus on player development and culture. The results were astounding! We ended the year with a cumulative record of 42-10, a national championship in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a fourth-place division 1 finish in Rainbow Six Siege, and every team making a playoff appearance.

Andrew and I were humbled. The commitment, personal growth, and comradery our students demonstrate brings a tear to my eye. Through their commitment to excellence, these students rose above and beyond expectations! So, where do we go next? In year two, our program is tripling in size. To manage growth, the program has been split into two – PC and Console. We’ve hired additional coaching staff and appointed outstanding student captains.

First on our agenda was MCC’s first ever esports summer camp, held Aug. 1-3, with the goals of bringing in young people interested in esports and raising additional scholarship money for incoming students. The camp was a resounding success with over twenty-two students learning across five different games and broadcasting. We led whole group coaching focused on mindset and growth, and student captains helped coach individual games.

We had incoming MCC recruits, high school state champions, and even middle schoolers join us, and we cannot wait to continue our community involvement and offer valuable experiences to young people to help them learn and grow! And that’s our takeaway for MCC esports going into year two — to learn and grow!

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Nathan Rodemeyer, a Marshalltown native, is one of the

co-head coaches of the MCC esports program.