Columbia Basin will now begin the E-sports era on campus with its first signee to compete for the Hawks. Tyce Rogers, a senior at Kamiakin High School will now be know as the first E-sports athlete at CBC. Now one year removed from the completion of the new Student Recreation Center on campus, CBC E-sports is ready to take its arena into the competitive sphere under the NJCAA window.

The Northwest Athletic Conference does not yet recognize E-Sports under their catalog of sports but several NWAC schools currently compete in the NJCAA including Peninsula College, Centralia College, Umpqua College and more to come. 

Rogers competed on the Kamiakin E-sports team his senior year as a specialist in Rocket League. "It feels really cool to help start and build this program and I couldn't be more excited", said Rogers. Coach Joel Harvey was very complementary of Rogers as and athlete. "Tyce is an awesome kid. He's a great student and also competed as a basketball player previously so he has a very competitive nature that will benefit the team down the road", said Harvey.

E-sports provides a unique style of competition that allows smaller schools to face off against high-level Division 1 colleges without the physicality barrier. It's not uncommon to see events comprised of schools from all levels who all can win at any time. Schools have the option to pick from a list of hosted games, including Rocket League, where they can decide which games they will compete in during each quarter. "It's an incredible moment and a big first step on our way to building this program. With the brand new arena and support from the campus, we are ready to hit the ground running".

CBC will begin competitive play starting in Fall quarter of 2023. For now, they will focus on building a Rocket League team as they continue to grow the program.