By Jo McMullen / KVSC reporter

St. Cloud State University has hired its first-ever Director of Esports.

Chase Neukam will start the position on February 1st. Neukam’s most recent job is the Director of Esports at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. The program at SCSU includes academic courses for in competitive gaming, marketing and leadership for Esports careers.

Neukam graduated from Ball State University in 2018, establishing the collegiate organization Cardinal Esports while at the school. The organization grew to over 300 members and eight teams.

Prior to coaching at St. Ambrose, Neukam helped build Paradigm, a virtual reality training facility and Esports arena in Davenport. Neukam says of his previous work in program development and coaching that a vast majority of their graduates have gone into work in the (esports) space. 

He added he’s passionate about organizing events and planning tournaments, skills he looks forward to bringing to the St. Cloud area.

Esports are currently expanding academic programming and venues at St. Cloud State, including a new Huskies Esports Arena opening in January in the Atwood Center.