The Sojourn Athlete of the Week, presented by Amplify Media, is sophomore Drew Busman from the IWU Esports program.
He is an Indiana native coming from Fishers, IN, where he went to Lakes Community High School.
This spring started a new era at IWU after they announced their addition of competitive gaming in April of 2023. The team consists of two separate rosters, Rocket League and Valorant.
Busman’s first introduction to video games started when he was a kid and never stopped. He started with a traditional Xbox before upgrading to a PC to generate more advanced skills in these games.
“Over the summer, I saw that they were going to have a Valorant team, which is a game that I play pretty often. I reached out to the coach and was able to join,” Busman said.
Valorant is a free-to-play first-person tactical hero shooter developed and published by Riot Games.
The team currently has eight members. Busman is a main contributor to their 3-0 winning streak. In his previous match, he led the team with 28 kills, 10 deaths, and 8 assists in a win over Harper College.
“Our coach has had experience with coaching other games, but he hasn’t had specific experience with Valorant, so it’s been a lot of learning for all of us,” Busman said. “But it’s been a lot of teamwork as well, which has kind of challenged all of us.”
While Valorant is a team vs. team, tactical game, Busman has already cemented himself as a leader amongst the team with his consistency and communication during matches.
The 2024 season has been an impressive start for a starter-up program. The team currently sits at 11-6 and is heading into their last regular season match against Clarke University on Feb. 19.
“It’s a new experience for us, and it’s a lot of fun,” Busman said. “Which has a lot of team bonding that we don’t really get otherwise, and it’s been a really positive memory.”
The IWU Esports Valorant team will compete in the NECC Playoffs starting March 18, which can be streamed on Twitch.
