When thinking of a typical college sports team, basketball, football or soccer might come to mind, but the standard definition has changed with the introduction of “esports” competitive play at the collegiate level.
Esports teams are now becoming a standard at colleges and universities, especially over the past few years, which is right about when Madison College joined the sport, competing and winning at the national level.
It started three years ago, when Joe Hanson, a Madison College Senior Enterprise Systems Engineer, was tapped to coach the Esports team in September 2020. The school invested $480,000 to reconfigure and equip the Esports lab into a state-of-the-art gaming facility in just about six months over 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Establishing Esports on Campus
Hanson now serves as the Head Coach of the Madison College Esports Team, where they compete in VALORANT, Overwatch 2, Rocket League and Super Smash Bros Ultimate tournaments within the official National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE).
As the head coach, Hanson directs the Esports Team in practice scrimmages, video-on-demand (VOD) review sessions, streaming Madison College Twitch content and scouting for opposition gameplay research, competing in the weekly Best of 3 series during the competitive season and one-on-one sessions to improve individual team member gameplay.
Members of his team light-heartedly refer to Hanson as the “winningest coach” they’ve ever known. The title has some merit because fast forward just seven semesters later, his department now boasts five national title wins, three national runners-up, 24 postseason qualifiers and 19 NJCAA Academic Award winners.
When asked about his secret to winning all of these championships, Hanson simply replied that he hates losing.
“Being dedicated to being successful is what it takes to win… that’s what makes you successful in everything in life,” Coach Hanson said.
The Esports team most recently claimed victory over South Puget Sound Community College in a VALORANT Best-of-5 Grand Final of the NJCAAE Tier 2 Contender Series on Dec. 7. This marks their second Grand Champion title in VALORANT since Fall 2021.
Given their recent back-to-back victories, one thought was whether it would make sense for Madison College to move up to Tier 1 Premier Series competition. When asked, Coach Hanson said that logistically it wouldn’t be likely since the competition times are dictated by Pacific Time and not Central Time.
According to the NJCAAE website, Central Time to Pacific Daylight Time will participate in the Western District, which would require Madison College players to stay up two hours later than their competitors due to the time zone difference.

Creating a Legacy of Future Gamers
The wins have not gone unnoticed. These victories have garnered attention amongst gamer hopefuls from across Wisconsin and beyond looking to level up their competitive play while still attending college.
In fact, during the most recent Summer 2023 with sponsorship from TDS, Madison College hosted Summer Series 3v3 Rocket League Tournament, boosting the profile of the Rocket League team, which most recently won their Spring 2023 NJCAAE tournament.
The tournament featured a Best of 3 Championship Series competition, complete with a circuit of competitors across different age groups, prizes for the Top 3 team finishers and an official branded trophy presented by the Esports team.
Hanson says the reputation of the Madison College team is spreading, and his recruitment efforts now mostly include screening players that are recommended to him by current team members or that reach out to him on their own.
That’s the energy and interest that Hanson has been wanting to see for his team, and he is happy to be creating a space on campus for students to explore and develop their gaming passions.
“I wanted to create something that I wish I had when I was younger,” Coach Hanson said. “If I didn’t (serve as Head Coach), then there’s another generation that potentially misses this opportunity to be part of an esports team.”