Esports Grads Return to Assist in Full Sail Armada Tryouts

Published Jul 18, 2024

Esports Grads Return to Assist in Full Sail Armada Tryouts

Alumni players from past Armada rosters join team management in the player selection process for the Fall 2024 season.

Thirty Full Sail graduates and Armada players from past rosters recently revisited the Armada community for the 2024 Fall tryout selection process. Acting as judges, the grads worked with team management to find the right players for the upcoming season of competitive play, forming teams for popular esports titles including Call of Duty, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Rocket League, and Overwatch.

“[Our grads have] insight into what's going to make for a good college esports athlete, because they've literally been through the season. They know what it takes. They've seen the good. They've seen the bad. They've had good teammates. They've had bad teammates,” shares Armada Team Manager Hoyt Dingus.

Assessing important factors including communication, game sense, skill, and academic standing, former Armada members assisted in the tryout process across seven competitive titles and provided feedback to team management who assigned final rosters.

With experience in the gaming and esports industries, grads including Matt “Burns” Pothoff, Daniel “Takasu” Hernandez, Mitchell Hartwell, and Seth “Skitlz” Hoecker worked with team managers Hoyt and Eric Alpizar throughout the four-week tryout process.

“When they have someone in there who's more like a big brother or a big sister as opposed to being an esports mom or esports dad, we're able to get a better idea of who they actually are,” says Hoyt on how grad involvement creates a more comfortable environment for students trying out to join an Armada team. “I feel like having our alumni take part in this, it's huge because they are also culture carriers to help the next team understand what the culture is like for the team and to get them off the ground and set them up for success and teach them lessons that they might've had during their past seasons.”

More than 200 campus and online students applied to try out, and, over the four-week tryout process, eventually whittled down to form eight final rosters in Call of Duty, Halo, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Valorant, Overwatch, League of Legends, Rocket League, and Apex Legends. Learn more about Full Sail Armada.