Mustain Hired to Coach Carl Sandburg College’s 1st Esports Team

  Aaron Frey
  Wednesday, March 20, 2019 2:18 PM
  Athletics

Galesburg, IL

Carl Sandburg College has an esports coach. Now it’s time to select its players.

Kirk Mustain has been hired as Sandburg’s first-ever esports coach as it continues to form an intercollegiate team to begin play for the 2019-20 academic year. Sandburg is believed to be the first community college in Illinois and among the first two-year colleges in the country to offer such a program.

The team will have four talent scholarships to be awarded to students and a gaming “arena” on campus for practice and competition.

Mustain boasts an extensive background with technology, including his current full-time position as a computer science and IT teacher at Williamsfield High School. He helped Williamsfield form its own esports team and has coached it the last two years.

Mustain also is an adjunct instructor for classes in Sandburg’s information and communication technology program and was an instructor for the College’s youth coding camps last summer. He also serves as president of the travel soccer club FC Galesburg and as the Knox County YMCA’s junior high soccer coordinator.

“I am very excited to be part of history with Sandburg’s first esports team,” Mustain said. “I’m looking forward to combining my experience with sports administration, technology, coaching and teaching to make for a great first season.”

Mustain will have an assistant coach, Ryan Wessling, to help with strategy, particularly in the game “League of Legends.” Wessling also serves as an assistant for Sandburg’s men’s soccer team.

Sandburg will be affiliated with the National Association of Collegiate eSports (NACE), which has more than 100 member schools since forming in 2016. The only other schools in Illinois offering esports are Illinois College, Illinois Wesleyan and Principia, according to the NACE’s website.

Thanks to streaming services and live events, esports — organized, multiplayer video game competitions — has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. In it, competitors from different teams square off in games such as “Overwatch” and “League of Legends.”

Anyone interested in joining the team should contact Mustain at kmustain@sandburg.edu.

Kirk Mustain