15-04-2025
St. Francis honors former coach with tournament, career fair
LORETTO, Pa. (WTAJ) — St. Francis University hosted an esports-focused college and career fair to honor the legacy of their inaugural coach.
The Luke Trotz College and Career Day saw 14 high schools across the area participate in three video game tournaments: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Overwatch 2, and Rocket League. If they were not playing, students could talk with colleges that offer esports programs, take a tour of the campus and learn about careers related to video games.
The fair was named after Luke Trotz, the first head coach for the St. Francis esports team. Trotz died in the summer of 2021 but left a trail of programs blossoming in Central Pennsylvania.
'Without Luke Trotz, there wouldn't be an esports program in this area,' Central Cambria's Esports coach and event organizer Lisa Urbassik said. 'There wouldn't be one in this entire part of Pennsylvania. He helped us start the majority of the local programs. He started most of the college programs, at least nudging them along. He was really the driving force in this area.'
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The careers shown to students ranged from video game design, computer art design, STEM and STEAM programs.
'It's a big door of opportunities for everyone that's around this kind of thing,' Homer-Center junior Katie Fairbanks said. 'They have different fields of technology that you can go into, which is really surprising and really cool, honestly in my opinion, from a younger generation's perspective.'
'Esports is really showing the digital, the media, and all of the opportunities that are out there for them,' Urbassik said.
Not only do those careers entice students but teach them valuable skills through the world of video games to level up in life.
Through the event, multiple players from different teams caught up with one another, but some stayed back at their schools to participate in the event. The relationships grew with these students outside of their gamertag.
'It really does bring it to a whole another level,' Urbassik added. 'It lets them meet up.'
'Even the career abilities to how to be a part of a team, how to critically think and how to be able to do multi-step things,' Forest Hills esports coach Ben Grove said. 'That's stuff that's maybe taught in schools, but applying it into real-world scenarios. I think that's where for Esports, that's the biggest component in the selling point for any organization that's here today.'
Grove, a close friend of Trotz, sees the impact he has made on teams across the county, with his logo, Trotz's initials LT with a red halo above it. Each time he sees that logo, he is reminded of the work he did to create a community inside of his own.
'There's a lot of weight behind that and what Luke stood for,' Grove said. 'Values, integrity and character. All of those things matter so much for what a student needs to be beyond just playing a game. It's those life quality characteristics that matter the most.'
Prizes were given to winners of each tournament, with one student winning the Luke Trotz Award — a scholarship given to the student courtesy of the Trotz family. However, Grove finds the event more to be an open door to a community and a chance at growth rather than being the champion.
'I think that's a big bonus to giving them a place in a home where they have an identity, and that's what Luke would definitely wish to see here today,' Grove said.
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