Niner Esports

Your home for gaming on campus!

About

Organization History

Niner Esports was founded in 2015 as a League of Legends club. Soon, involvement took off and the club was converted into a larger Esports club called “Esports at UNC Charlotte”. Seeing a drastic increase in support in following years, the organization underwent a substantial identity overhaul to become Niner Esports as it exists today.

Niner Esports Today

Today, Niner Esports is the largest collegiate esports organization on the East Coast of the US and the largest student organization at UNC Charlotte. We are made up of over 2,300 members and 10 collegiate esports teams including Rocket League, Valorant, Halo, League of Legends, Rainbow Six, and more.

Our incredible officers work tirelessly to put on events, such as LAN Parties, for our community to bolster involvement.

In recent years, there has been a tremendous boom in the popularity of esports. With that came a growing concern about the lack of diversity and its underlying probable cause: toxicity toward women and minorities. The popularity of gaming among undergraduates has skyrocketed. This means that the need for a substantial effort towards promoting inclusion among the growing population is more important than ever.

In 2022, Niner Esports became a finalist for Esports Collegiate Program of the Year at the Esports Awards in Las Vegas. We were the only non-varsity (student-run) program to make it to the finalist stage. This accomplishment made Niner Esports one of the top 10 collegiate esports organizations in the world.

In 2023, Niner Esports entered the spotlight once again when we won Esports Club of the Year at the EsportsU Collegiate awards. These achievements propelled the organization to relevance within and beyond the campus of UNC Charlotte. We now host events that pull teams from around the country to compete. Most recently, we held the Gold Rush Featuring Fortnite event.

Meet the Team

These are the hard-working student leaders responsible for putting on the events that our students love! Starting with the executives:

President | Alexis Diamond

Vice President | Jacob Turner

Marketing Director | Mia Nguyen

Events Director | Anshuman Pandey

Community Events Director | Ayden Herrell

Treasurer | Owen Caprioglio

Advisory Council

  • Kevin Colwell - UNC Charlotte Staff Advisor

  • Jorge Sanchez - Alumni Advisor / Former President

  • Gidd Sasser - Alumni Advisor

  • Tyler Holley - Design Advisor / Former Marketing Director

Team Managers

  • Nikole Sazoncika - Valorant Team Manager

  • Alexander Johnston - LoL Manager

  • Jax Romero - LoL Manager

  • Brockton Packard - iracing manager

  • Paul Anderson - Cs Manager

  • Alex Howard - SSBU manager

  • Veronica Grider - Splatoon manger

  • TBD- Cod team manager

  • Alexander Clark - Overwatch manager

  • Gabriel Herterich - Overwatch manager

  • William Butler - RL Team manager

Event Coordinators

  • Nikole Sazoncika - Valorant Coord.

  • Ryan Slattery - Melee Coord.

  • William Butler - RL Coord.

  • Connor Babcock - FGC Coord.

  • Gabriel Herteric - Overwatch coord.

  • Omar Kamel - VR coord.

  • Alex Howard - SSB Ultimate Coord.

  • Sean Nguyen - LoL Coord

Marketing Team

  • Alex Negron - Marketing Anaylst

  • Emma Cathey - Graphic Designer

  • Alex Negron - Photographer

  • Rajeev Choudhari -Video Editor / Webmaster

Broadcast Team

  • Josiah Hemphill - Head of Broadcasting

Volunteer Coaches

  • John Padgett - CoD coach

  • Stephen Korenstein - Overwatch coach

Contact

To learn more about Niner Esports or to work with the org, complete the form below and we will reach out as soon as possible!

Our Teams

Niner Esports fields a number of collegiate-level teams that compete in various leagues including NECC, CLoL, CVAL, and more.

Valorant - Main Team

Team Manager:
Joseph Belala - SepTeam Members:
CAPTAIN: JT Riddle - NE JayyHojin Kim - NE pororoJonathan Quinn - NE QSVVJAQLucas de Oliveira - NE Luk kyJohn Shanahan - NE LilBabyWipesBen Wasko - NE ENDZSUBS:
Hellen Cheng - NE BigBussyKousik Kancharla - NE KAS

Valorant - Academy Team

Team Manager:
Joseph Belala - SepTeam Members:
CAPTAIN: Clarence Grimaldo - coffeeTrinity Watkins - DemiJuneJahleel Vasquez - WhiteArmorJake Halbach - swimmerdude88Gabe Pagunuran - kregSUBS
Garrett Roberts - CapChaoticKarden Chen - BotWillMorgan Alger - Kokoro

Valorant - Game Changers

Team Manager:
Joseph Belala - SepTeam Members:
CAPTAIN - Kassie Huynh - KassieMorgan Alger - KokoroNada Khan - nadaXen Jones - XenphericAnoo Prabhala - espressoSUBS
Cindy Nguyen - ZESTYZUCCHINI143Hellen Cheng - NE BigBussyTrinity Watkins - DemiJune

R6: Siege - Main Team

Team Manager:
Nicholas Somma - NivozoTeam Members:
Malcolm Chance - Tamayol hyaxkConnor Thomas - lazyice.Jonathan Ford - reaper.117John Marshall - zjohnJake Blackwell - .jqeCody Pittman - Taln.

League of Legends - Main Team

Team Manager:
Alexander Johnston - GenerrcTeam Members:
Ethan Park - mare4Erik Kirby - kerbie14Ken Vu - ken.0_0777Francisco Alves - peppeogScott Tran - wannaseeatrickTrey Handy - overperforming

League Of Legends - Academy Team

Team Manager:
Jax Romero - DistellonTeam Members:
Vuong Nguyen Hoang - SIGMABALLSJoseph Bostok - vaultboyyoejRoymond Hoffman - 295aminbaeJax Romero Miranda - distellonJames Kim - bigpiecegolem

Overwatch - Main Team

Team Manager:
Alexander Clark - cocoamypebblesTeam Members: TBD

Overwatch - Academy Team

Team Manager:
Gabriel Herterich - gorkyyyTeam Members: TBD

Splatoon

Team Manager:
Veronica Grider - superajokeraTeam Members:
Andrew Hooker - PuppdDavid Morales - SpectracubeJerome Fennell - JeromeandthespikeLeah Pasternak - cheetopuf

Super Smash Bros

Team Manager:
Alex Howard - itsameyoyoTeam Members:
Vincent Vaccaro - bigvinny24Tyler Bell - jestreoverhaulRuben Munoz - raven3765Nikhil Vasanth - nil312Blake Berrard - bonk36Andrew Wilkins - grandrew2William Schulte - satanael49

iRacing

Team Manager:
Brockton Packard -brocktonpackard24Team Members: TBD

Counter Strike

Team Manager:
Paul Anderson - SkethcTeam Members:
Alex Richards - arich9041Matthew Kohler - c1n1bunDevin Thompson - aciriMustafa Poonawalla - ZageRenato Laczynski Goi - rlg

Special Events

The best thing about Niner is our ability to engage our community through events. Events featuring a wide variety of games are held throughout the semesters. We hold some of the most significant events at UNC Charlotte, with continuous event attendance of 300-400 students at our LAN parties. Each semester, we hold frequent viewing parties and two bring-your-own-system LAN parties. These LANs span an entire day and feature tournaments, giveaways, food, and a space to connect with likeminded individuals.

Today, Niner Esports holds the largest collegiate esports events on the East Coast of the US and is the largest student organization at UNC Charlotte. We are made up of over 2,300 members and 10 collegiate esports teams including Rocket League, Valorant, Halo, League of Legends, Rainbow Six, and more.