Hostos Community College Director of Athletics, Erik Smiles, has announced the addition of Esports within the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE), beginning in the Fall semester of 2020. 

To date, more than 60 institutions have already joined or expressed their intent to join Esports for the Fall 2020 semester. The NJCAAE was founded in 2019 and is the only national Esports association exclusively for two-year colleges. NJCAAE game offerings include popular titles such as SuperSmash Brothers Ultimate (Switch), Rocket League (PC), Overwatch (PC) and Madden NFL (PS4). A full list of offered gaming titles for the 2020-2021 season is listed below with the possibility of more to be added for the Spring 2021 season.  
 
"At Hostos Community College, the time has come to convert dreams into reality! To know that all students, despite of their athletic ability, will have the opportunity to participate competitively in collegiate sports is remarkable. We are all extremely excited about this opportunity" said Dean of Students Johanna Gomez. "NJCAA Esports offers our students a platform to excel on all levels, contributing to the college's retention and graduation efforts. During these uncertain times and moving forward, what better way to keep our students safe, healthy and connected than to build strong partnerships and sportsmanship through Esports."

Hostos Community College recognized that the gaming industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, and the addition of Esports as a competitive sport will help fill a need for the general student population. Already offering an Associate Degree in Game Design and now with the addition of a varsity Esports team Hostos is looking to take the lead in gaming within CUNY. "During our meetings with our administration we were trying to find a way to keep our students engaged during another semester of remote learning. Esports came to the forefront as a way to not only connect and engage our student population but as a great retention and recruitment tool in the future" stated Smiles. "Adding Esports to our lineup of varsity teams supports our mission of giving all of our students a chance to participate in Caiman Nation!"
 
Students interested in participating on the esports team for Fall 2020/Spring 2021 can email the Department of Athletics at athletics@hostos.cuny.edu. Director of Athletics Erik Smiles and Assistant Athletic Director Marquee Poole will be the primary contacts regarding esports for any interested students.  
 
 
NJCAAE Fall 2020 Game Offerings: 
 
Rocket League: is a high-powered hybrid of arcade-style soccer and vehicular mayhem. Described as "soccer with rocket-powered cars," the goal is to score as many goals as possible over the course of the match. 
 
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: is a fighting game in which the objective is to knock the opponent off the stage and eliminate all of their stocks. 
 
Overwatch: is a team-based, first-person shooter, where players choose from a roster of heroes to assemble a team. 
 
Madden NFL: is a football simulation using the teams from the National Football League (NFL).
 
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO): The game pits two teams against each other: the Terrorists and the Counter-Terrorists. Both sides are tasked with eliminating the other while also completing separate objectives.
 
Hearthstone: Originally subtitled Heroes of Warcraft, Hearthstone builds upon the existing lore of the Warcraft series by using the same elements, characters, and relics. The game is a turn-based card game between two opponents, using constructed decks of 30 cards along with a selected hero with a unique power. Players use their limited mana crystals to play abilities or summon minions to attack the opponent, with the goal of destroying the opponent's hero. 
 
Rainbow Six Siege: The game is an online shooter video game which puts heavy emphasis on environmental destruction and cooperation between players.
 
FIFA 20: is a soccer/futbol simulation video game published by EA Sports as part of the FIFA series.
 
Valorant: is your global competitive stage. It's a 5v5 tac-shooter matchup to plant or defuse the Spike in a one-life-per-round, first to 13 series.
 
Fortnite: is a player-versus-player game, using solo mode to receive points for the match, with each player finishing inside the top-10 earning additional placement points. 
 
Current Spring 2021 Offerings:
 
NBA 2K21: is a basketball simulation video game published by 2K Sports based on the National Basketball Association. 
 
FIFA 21:  is a soccer/futbol simulation video game published by EA Sports as part of the FIFA series.