{"id":17642,"date":"2025-12-19T13:11:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T19:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/?p=17642"},"modified":"2025-12-19T13:11:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T19:11:55","slug":"from-the-soccer-field-to-the-winners-circle-how-one-maryville-sophomore-found-a-new-path-through-esports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/from-the-soccer-field-to-the-winners-circle-how-one-maryville-sophomore-found-a-new-path-through-esports\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Soccer Field to the Winner\u2019s Circle: How One Maryville Sophomore Found a New Path Through Esports"},"content":{"rendered":"

When 91制片厂\u2019s Valorant club team clinched the NACE Grand Finals championship this fall, the moment was meaningful for every player on the roster. But for sophomore Paige Kessler, it meant something even deeper: a comeback story two years in the making.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A Sudden Detour<\/b><\/p>\n

Growing up in St. Charles, Paige lived and breathed soccer. She competed at a national level, spent weekends traveling for tournaments, and imagined a future playing at the collegiate level. \u201cIt was my life,\u201d she says. \u201cIt took up my time, my energy \u2013 but I loved it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything changed after a car accident left her with a brain injury and severely impaired eyesight. Just like that, the sport she\u2019d built her identity around was gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like my life was taken away in a moment,\u201d Paige recalls. \u201cI miss being proud of myself for something. I missed seeing achievements that came from my hard work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Gaming as Therapy — and a New Beginning<\/b><\/p>\n

Esports wasn\u2019t new to Paige — she grew up gaming casually with her dad — but she\u2019d never entered the competitive scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

That changed when her doctor recommended gaming as a form of vision therapy, helping rebuild reaction time, tracking, and focus. She joined an all-female team called \u201cHarmony Amethyst,\u201d as part of the <\/span>VCT Game Changers<\/span><\/a> Academy League, and discovered a community, a new challenge, and a new sense of belonging.<\/span><\/p>\n

Esports overall remains male-dominated and as Paige explained, \u201cit is definitely harder, both mentally and opportunity-wise to succeed in Esports, as a girl.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had faced some hate, some setbacks, but I always found people that supported me \u2013 and Maryville is a big part of that support system: from the teammates, staff, and other teams as well,\u201d said Paige. \u201cIt also gives me equal opportunities as my male teammates, without having to work harder for that opportunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Choosing Maryville: A Home Close to Home<\/b><\/p>\n

With Maryville just a short drive from St. Charles — and already known as a global Esports powerhouse — enrolling felt like a natural next step. Earlier this year, Maryville\u2019s Esports program celebrated its 10th anniversary with one of its most <\/span>successful seasons ever<\/b><\/a> – with athletes in the program also maintaining a 3.65 average GPA for the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI came into this new scene and found a pre-built community waiting for me,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was insane — in a good way — to suddenly have so many friends, teammates, and people who supported me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She will never forget the first time she played with her Maryville teammates in person in the newly-constructed <\/span>Saints Gaming Lounge<\/b><\/a>. \u201cI had two of my really good friends next to me and our other teammates next to them. We were hyping each other up, and some people would stand and cheer when we did something cool. I remember it was so fun and so intense \u2013 I hadn\u2019t felt that way in so long.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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A Championship Moment<\/b><\/p>\n

This fall, Paige and her teammates earned a championship title at the NACE Grand Finals. For Paige, it wasn\u2019t just a win — it was a validation she\u2019d been missing since her accident.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy team didn\u2019t realize how much that victory meant to me,\u201d she says. \u201cEven if it\u2019s just a club league, I helped my team accomplish something real. For the first time in years, I felt genuinely proud of myself again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Studying the Future She Wants to Build<\/b><\/p>\n

At Maryville, Paige is majoring in game design with a minor in marketing, with the goal of building a career in the industry that helped her rebuild herself. Maryville\u2019s <\/span>Interactive Design, Concentration in Game Design<\/b><\/a> is a focused professional degree designed to prepare students for professions that create or implement design focusing on game-based media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love this community. I love the people I\u2019ve met. I want to stay in this world somehow,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking back, Paige sees both loss and renewal — but also a sense of direction she didn\u2019t expect. \u201cI felt like my life and love were ripped away suddenly,\u201d she says. \u201cBut now I finally have something to show that maybe I didn\u2019t fall into the wrong place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With a championship under her belt and her sights set on the future, Paige is proving that sometimes a new dream can emerge exactly when the old one ends.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch a <\/span><\/i>video<\/span><\/i><\/a> of Paige and her teammates celebrating their championship win.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>Love<\/span>4<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/i> <\/i>