Averett University hired new head Esports Coach, Paul Colton. Colton previously served as esports director on the high school level at Odyssey Institute of Advanced and International studies in Arizona.

He’s excited about building Averett’s young program.

“I would like to see Esports grow in the area as a whole,” Colton said. “We are a bit behind in southern Virginia, so I would love to help it grow throughout the surrounding schools and communities. For my players, I want to see them improve day after day.”

Averett was the first four-year university in Virginia to add esports when it did so in 2017. Colton takes the reigns from part-time coach Todd Blanton who still serves as team manager and hopes to bring more players onto the team.

“I want to create a structure and expectations that we weren’t able to keep up with without a full-time director. In addition, I want to see more people be included in our program.”

With Esports and Averett University student-athletes Coach Colton wants to close the gap between Esports and the student-athletes on campus.

“I started by talking to each of the coaches and seeing how my program could support them,” Colton said. “I am going to be making many appearances over there and my players will as well support our other sports.”

Colton welcomes students to come see him or reach out via email, [email protected], if they are interested in joining the team.

“The best way is personally, but I can’t be everywhere. I have many flyers that will be going up in the surrounding areas and I will also be around to talk to anyone interested as well.”

Colton is also committed to having his team involved in helping grow the sport locally.

“We will be participating in the learning and growth of the youth. For example, we are currently working with the Boys and Girls Club of Danville to help them get an esports and technology center set up and we will be helping them after as well.”

Esports competes in many different games such as League of Legends, Valorant, I Racing, Call Of Duty, etc. Colton finds it difficult to pick just one game that he’s most excited about.

“This may seem like a cop-out, but I am genuinely excited to see all of my teams improve throughout the year and achieve heights they hadn’t even considered.