RIVER FOREST, ILL. — Concordia University Chicago (CUC) and Athletic Director Pete Gnan are excited to announce the hiring of the university's first Head Esports Coach. Joshua Mol will be leading the Esports team in the inaugural season as a part of CUC Athletics.
Mol comes to CUC after holding a position as Esports Coach at fellow Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) school, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). He also served as the Esports Coordinator at Harper College. In both of these roles, Mol oversaw all actions with the Esports team including schedules, practices, promoting and recruiting.
Esports is a form of video game competition that is held in multiple universities across the country. CUC will be running under the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) for all of their games and tournaments. Within the NACE, they will have leagues that are held within both the fall and spring seasons, as well as circuit tournaments and one-off tournaments with select titles. Currently there are six NACC schools that have esports already within their athletics department. With the announcement of this new CUC athletics team, there will be an opportunity for CUC students to join in the first season.
"Joshua Mol will be a great addition to our Esport program. He was instrumental to the beginning of Illinois State University and Harper College as they started their esports programs." Athletic Director, Pete Gnan, states. "He understands our missions at Concordia University Chicago and values the students as they compete for esports. He will be a great addition to start our program."
In his time at MSOE, Mol coached both the League of Legends and Valorant teams. They both made deep runs in the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) in the top three at nationals and top four at the Teemo Cup.
" I am glad to be able to plant the seeds of esports at Concordia." Mol states, "I am hopeful they can grow into something large and successful."
The first season for Esports will be held in the Fall of 2023. Some of the potential games that CUC will be sponsoring includes: League of Legends, Rocket League, Overwatch, and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate. For all updates about Esports, keep up to date at cucougars.com.
