JOHNSON CITY – (October 11, 2021) They predict match-ups, hype up the crowd, and call the game as they see it.
They share information about player stats and also help newcomers – and veteran audience members too – understand what is happening during the game, as well as behind the scenes (…or screens).
And the four students at East Tennessee State University who are casters for esports during the upcoming year will tell you they also get to have an amazing amount of fun.
Introducing Levi Everroad, Spencer Jedrzejek, Chris Moser and Colleen Sharkey. They are all students at ETSU and they share in common a profound love for esports – a passion that earned each of them an invitation to be casters for university’s esports teams for the 2021-22 season, which began last month.
“We are like color commentators,” said Jedrzejek, a manufacturing engineering major
from Mooresville. “We try to predict what the game might do, kind of like Tony Romo
has over the past couple of seasons covering the NFL.
“When I first heard ETSU was starting an esports team, I knew I wanted to be involved in some way, and casting has been my opportunity,” added Jedrzejek, who is a caster for the Overwatch team alongside Everroad, a Japanese major from Johnson City.
“I’ve played games for as long as I remember, whether it was sitting with my dad while
he played Metal Gear Solid 2, or the sheer amount of hours I put into any Pokemon
game,” Everroad said. “I’ve always played lots of video games, and as a caster, we
get to paint a visual image of the gameplay and the potential for plays.” 
What inspired Everroad to be a caster?
“My love for healthy competition, both in esports and traditional sports…that and I also love to talk about them,” he laughed.
ETSU first entered the esports competition arena in fall 2020 with two teams, Overwatch and League of Legends. Twenty-two students who were already highly ranked in the respective fields were chosen for the inaugural teams. Overwatch played its first season finishing 8-1 in its group and earning a spot in the National Association of Collegiate Esports playoffs where the team made it to the final 16. They also made it to the NECC playoffs and finished in their division’s top 8.
League of Legends also had a successful inaugural year, finishing the Collegiate League of Legends with a 4-2 season record. They also placed second in the Battle at Buff Nation and placed in the top 8 at the Drury League of Legends Invitational.
This fall, a third team begins its first season with the addition of Rocket League.
Casting for Rocket League’s inaugural year are Moser and Sharkey. 
“I think the point of a caster is two things,” said Moser, a visual effects major from Memphis who is also a member of the League of Legends junior varsity team. “First, we give useful information within the context of the game, and second, we entertain the audience.
“You can do both at the same time if you are good enough,” he said.
His fellow caster, Sharkey, is a graduate student in brand and media strategy and is also pursuing a graduate certificate in esports management. Her love for esports began as a hobby.
“My parents made the mistake of gifting me a PlayStation 1 in December of 2000, and
I never gave up after that,” said Sharkey, a self-described military brat who never
lived anywhere longer than four years. “Email was boring, and forget international
calls, so I stayed in touch with friends through gaming and made countless new friends
through the years,” she said. 
“As casters, our job is to narrate and, above all else, engage. We are there to engage veteran viewers, casual category viewers, and rope in the baby viewers – especially those who have no idea why these six cars are fighting over a giant soccer ball.
“The players are doing all the hard work; we’re just here to make it make sense,” she said.
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