Maryville’s League of Legends Esports Team added another trophy to the shelf after winning the inaugural Gateway Legends Collegiate Invitational. The event cemented St. Louis as a national esports hub.

BY CONSTANCE GIBBS

Building on St. Louis’ reputation as a celebrated sports town while showcasing the city as one of the most vibrant technology hubs in the U.S., St. Louis hosted the inaugural Gateway Legends Collegiate Invitational.

The event brought together 16 top collegiate esports teams from across the country, with live gameplay taking place inside Ballpark Village as part of a multi-day Fourth of July celebration.

Maryville’s League of Legends Esports Team claimed the Gateway Legends trophy after beating rival Winthrop University. The victory was especially sweet because Maryville placed second to Winthrop earlier this year in the League of Legends Collegiate Championship.

“Our esports program gets to compete in events all over the world, so we are used to the big stage,” said Dan Clerke, ’18, Maryville’s director of esports. “Gateway Legends was especially important to us, as it was the first of its kind in our own backyard. We wanted to represent St. Louis, in St. Louis, to the best of our ability.”

Maryville’s dominating esports program boasts three League of Legends national championships and recently claimed its first Overwatch national championship. Clerke has worked with Gateway Legends organizers since early 2020 to bring the tournament to life. Following this inaugural event, Clerke plans on building several local esports initiatives that St. Louisans can look forward to every year.

Gateway Legends was the first in-person collegiate esports tournament of 2021. The tournament was produced by the Fair St. Louis Foundation and sponsored by The Centene Charitable Foundation. Nerd Street Gamers oversaw tournament operations, with Riot Games involved as the developer of League of Legends.

“As a corporate citizen of St. Louis, Riot Games is excited to see the tremendous growth in esports in the metropolitan area over the past few years,” said Bridgette Horack, Karma Ambassador at Riot Games. “Through this event, we hope that the community learned more about the opportunities esports can provide students in high school and at the collegiate level in a nontraditional sport.”

Gateway Legends garnered extensive media attention including coverage by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KMOV, as well as inclusion in the #STLMade campaign created by theSTL.com. The event cemented the St. Louis region as a hot spot for the esports industry.

In addition to Maryville’s Esports Program, local St. Louis area high schools now have esports teams, as do several area colleges and some civic organizations, such as the Saint Louis Science Center and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis.

Some esports players have aspirations of gaming professionally. Two of Maryville’s top players went pro last year. Other students see opportunities to enter into the business of esports in roles ranging from coaching to video game animation. In-person competitions also serve as networking events and allow students to find potential internships.