By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Missouri Western State University's E-Sports team is hosting a 24-hour livestream for charity, starting at 4 p.m. Thursday and lasting until 4 p.m. on Friday.
The stream will originate from the Griffon E-sports Arena in the Blum Student Union and can be viewed on the program’s Twitch channel, which is Twitch.TV/griffon_Esports.
Missouri Western e-sports coach and director Luke Theis says the team started doing these livestreams for charity last March, when their arena first opened.
"It went so well," Theis said. "The students loved it. It was a great experience for them, and we also get to give back to the community, which is a big plus. We kind of just wanted to continue it each semester."
Griffon E-sports is again partnering with Extra Life to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Those watching the stream will be asked to contribute via the team’s Extra Life page.
The team raised more than $5000 for Children's Miracle Network last year after holding livestream events in the fall and spring.
Theis says there are two main benefits of doing this livestream event.
"One is the applied learning for the students," he said. "The second thing is giving back to the community. As a program, one of our biggest focuses is giving back. So, it's awesome that we get to do this livestream. That we get to support Children's Miracle Network and support their cause."
The stream will include two special one-on-one Rocket League matches, featuring University president Elizabeth Kennedy against vice president for finance and administration Darrell Morrison at 11 a.m. on Friday.
Chief of staff Chris Dunn will then play chief communications officer Becky Dunn at 2 p.m. on Friday.