The new Esports head coach Tony Zhong, who started working for St. Edward’s just at the beginning of this semester, has a rich history in competitive sports and looks forward to using his experience to help student athletes on the hilltop.
Zhong attended Stony Brook University in New York, where he hoped to play tennis during his freshman year — only to find out that the team had disbanded. When pursuing a competitive elective to take part in, he learned his college had a League of Legends club, and he started his esports journey.
He played on the team his freshman year, but quickly realized he wanted a role that leaned more to the coaching side, so he became their coach. In the following year, the team rose to top five in North America. Afterwards, he ran for the Esports Association and became president, holding the role until he graduated. In that time, Zhong facilitated communication between departments and higher administration to receive support through various tournaments and games, including the Harrisburg University Esports (HUE) invitational in Harrisburg, PA.
“We went there and we played, and we had a really good time,” Zhong said. “That’s kind of where I realized that I want to do this even after college, because the overall experience of traveling and being a team with friends and making lifelong connections and experiencing (those) really heavy pressure situations was really fun.”
He continued pursuing esports through his collegiate career, and even centered his senior thesis around an esports program proposal for Stony Brook. After graduating, he worked at Ohio Northern University as the assistant Esports director for two years before transitioning to his new role at St. Edward’s.
“The overall impression that I got from the program is that these students care a lot, and they really deserve someone who will give them the resources that they need to compete,” Zhong said. “I think I am the person to do that, and I’m confident in my skills for me to provide the experience that I got in college to them.”
Since last semester, many esports players have either transferred or graduated, leaving several teams without enough players to compete, which is the case for the Valorant and Rainbow Six Siege teams. The Call of Duty team will also not be competing, since the College CoD League (CCL) is not operating for the fall season. Zhong is working on recruiting new players to continue advancing their teams for next semester. The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate team will host an on-campus tournament to recruit for the remaining spot on their roster.
The Esports season is starting strong as the Rocket League team travels to Harrisburg, PA, to compete in the HUE invitational tournament. Zhong is collaborating with the Digital Storytelling and Content Creation program to assign a student to capture a documentary-style vlog of the experience. The documentary will be released sometime in late October.
Zhong acknowledged esport’s record of success with past head coach, Sterling Henderson. Just last semester, the Call of Duty team won their region and placed within the top six national rankings. The Rainbow Six Siege team also won their divisional championship. The Rocket League team also won the HUE Invitational Championship last year, which the Valorant team also competed in.
“I really think that we have a good, solid foundation here, with what Sterling (Henderson) currently left behind for us,” Zhong said. “I think as a person, as stepping in to fill his shoes, I know he’s done a really good job for the program. I know he has set records of competitive success. So I do hope that I’m able to stand up to the standards that he has set for the Esports program.”
Stay updated on esports news through their Twitter (X), and their online webpage, SEU Esports.
