News Byte: CyBears Competing, Preparing for Fall

In this new age of social distancing, one competitive sport that has continued to thrive is esports, and the CyBears, New York Tech’s esports team, is no exception. While sporting events throughout the world are being postponed or held without in-person spectators, this team hasn’t missed a beat throughout the global pandemic.

"We've been competing the entire time. The COVID-19 pandemic hasn't stopped us,” says Elieser Duran, head coach of the CyBears. “With everyone playing at home, gameplay has suffered a bit, but we are adjusting to the new normal and are stabilizing. The plan is to get more practice in more consistently to keep mechanics up, without being physically together.”

The team is communicating through Discord, an online communications platform that helps them stay connected and keep practicing every day.

The CyBears are also planning to compete in a number of fall tournaments and hope to reopen the esports facility at the Long Island campus with limited access and barriers in place, following requisite social distancing guidelines.

They are also enhancing and building depth to their current roster. “The CyBears team is still moving forward with tryouts,” notes Duran. “Even though we're all playing from home, the team is seeing exponential growth into other games, creating more teams and giving more students the chance to play for New York Tech through esports.”