College athletes are doubling as competitive gamers after the COVID-19 pandemic halted some college sports last year

• An esports league focused on promoting diversity has added small-school athletes to its roster.
• College esports are growing enough to create scholarships for students participating in organized leagues.
• Esports are now even creating an additional opportunity for college athletes to earn scholarships.

An esports organization focused on promoting diversity in competitive gaming at schools and universities has added Division I football players to its roster.

Cxmmunity, a non-profit dedicated to increasing the participation of minorities in the esports and video game industries, has partnered with companies like Microsoft and Verizon to host high-budget gaming tournaments at HBCU's, and create scholarships for their competitors.

This fall, they've even managed to get Division I scholarship athletes involved in their tournaments by recruiting North Carolina Central University football players Kam Moser and Travon Wallace.

Moser and Wallace give Cxmmunity a pair of Division I college football players to boast on its roster, and opens the door for more college athletes to become two-way competitors by entering the esports space.

"It's really cool to now say that we have a football player that's now competing in esports," Cxmmunity co-founder Chris Peay told Insider. "For us the value is about equal whether they are traditional gamers or traditional athletes ... I think this can provide another gateway for student athletes."

Many college athletic conferences, including HBCU conferences like the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference which North Carolina Central University competes in, were forced to cancel their 2020 fall sports seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This caused a surge in esports participation across the country, and college athletes joined in stay connected with the student body and engage in competitive activities.

As COVID-19 cases rise in states with big college sports cultures like Florida and Texas, esports will remain a pandemic proof option for athletes and even regular students to compete in organized competitions and earn scholarship money.

"Gaming took off last year," Peay said. "I think last year the pandemic put gaming really on a global stage, and I think this year you're going to find a lot of people are going to be trying to best administer that, especially on the K-12 and collegiate level."

Moser and Wallace are not the first collegiate athletes to get into esports. Last March, former University of Kentucky basketball player Immanuel Quickley, who went on to get drafted by the New York Knicks and earn significant NBA playing time, won first place at The Hoops at Home NBA 2K Tournament after the NCAA men's basketball tournament was cancelled.

Quickley went on to defend his title by participating in this year's tournament in the midst of his NBA rookie season, and helped set a precedent for college and even professional to be two-way athletes as competitive gamers.