Note: This article was featured in our 2017 April Fool’s issue. 

There have recently been students who have stressed the importance of bringing a football team back to Iona College. Unfortunately, for the football advocates on campus, that will not be happening any time soon. However, the athletic department has found a solution. No, it’s not men’s lacrosse, hockey or tennis. The sport the school is bringing to campus at the start of the 2017 fall semester is e-sports.

It may sound crazy, but e-sports have gained a lot of attention lately. Different colleges around the nation have e-sports teams. The Big Ten conference that includes schools like Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State and Rutgers that have added e-sports. UC Irvine will open a 3,500-square-foot e-sports arena in the fall, according to Engadget.com.

Since Iona has seen the success of e-sports at other schools, the school decided to jump on board.

Iona’s e-sports team will be larger than any other Division I sports team on campus. They will have players, who are good in gaming categories such as sports, first-person shooters, fighting and real-time strategy.

Steven Felice will be running the e-sports team as Iona hired him to be the head coach. Felice signed a three-year deal with the school.

“I’m excited to be the e-sports coach at Iona,” Felice said. “I’m getting the chance to be apart of something new.”

Felice has started his job early, going out and recruiting some of the top gamers Iona and the New York area has to offer.

“I’m trying to get the ball rolling early,” Felice said. “If I can get a team together now, I can start working on game plans and see what I will be working with when the season comes around.”

Felice has added 15 players that are students at Iona to the esports team. Sophomore Anthony Torres is expected to be the Gaels x-factor in “Call of Duty” and “Overwatch.”

“It’s a great feeling to be apart of the first e-sports team at Iona,” Torres. “I get the opportunity to display my skills on the national stage.”

Felice also has done recruiting on the high school level as he received a verbal commitment from Shane Wilson. The Midtown High School senior is known to be a beast at “NBA 2K.”

“When coach [Felice] reached out to be about Iona starting a e-sports team, I was on board,” Wilson said. “I love the school and the community before hearing about an esports team. Now that they have one, it makes things even better.”

Wilson is the second best “NBA 2K” player in New York, and he has a lot of confidence in his game.

“I plan to be the best 2K player on the team and in the country,” Wilson said. “I have trust in my abilities that I will outplay my opponents whenever the controller is in my hands.”

Even though Iona’s e-sports team is just starting, Felice still plans to compete once things get started.

“My goal is to win,” Felice said. “The school hired me to build a successful program and that’s what I’m going to do.”

The Gaels season will start on Sept. 21 when they travel to UCLA to play in the Tournament of Champions.