Female Gamers Growing at Dallas College

Evelyn Elizondo and Keyla Carbajal are part of the movement.

Both are gamers at Dallas College. Both are part of a coed eSports program where females are welcome, and growing steadily in numbers.

"I wanted to be a part of it because it's exciting to know that there is eSports," Elizondo said, "and we're playing games with older people, and competitive with it."

Both Elizondo and Carbajal compete for Dallas College Eastfield, where first-year coach Jeremy Stout nearly put together a full female gaming team. They both have felt the welcoming nature Dallas College eSports' program offers to males and females alike.

"That means a lot because sometimes when you're playing a video game, they will put you aside just because you're a female, but that doesn't mean all people do it," Elizondo said. "Also, I know I can go to somebody else to ask them advice to feel more comfortable."

In the past, Carbajal noticed sometimes female gamers felt intimidated, even to the point of altering their identity while gaming. That's because they don't want to feel they can't play what some may perceive as a stereotypical male-oriented gaming world.

"I personally haven't noticed bullying or whatever, but I do know there's certain people who whenever they turn on a microphone because whatever they speak, they're just going to be talked bad about or ignored," Carbajal said. "Some girls will use voice changers or they won't say anything at all, and they'll just type their comms, which just ends up throwing everything off because who's looking at the chat while they're playing? I think raising the female population does help that out to normalize it a little bit more so guys just don't see a girl in a game, and be like, 'What, what is she doing here?'"

At Dallas College, there are no stigmas, there are no stereotypes and there are no unwelcome overtones. Females have trickled in to the eSports program on the community college's seven-campus district with open arms. Currently, there are 15 female student gamers within the Dallas College eSports program. Women gamers are competing in primarily five titles, with Valorant the most popular now. According to Dallas College Richland and Dallas College El Centro eSports coach Sky McCort, there are six females within the Valorant inner circle. El Centro's Ashley Trevizo is a Super Smash Brothers and Tekken gamer.

"My athletes, as a whole, seem interested to compete, earn wins, and possibly scholarships to transfer to four-year college eSport programs," McCort said. "eSport athletes, as a whole, tend to behave and have similar interests as one another. This is the gaming culture, and is void of gender-specific stereotypes and patterns.

"My female athletes are expected to have the same level of involvement and commitment to their growth, training and performance as my male athletes. My athletes, as a whole, vary in involvement based on personality and their schedules."

A total of 173 active gamers participate in the Dallas College eSports program. Students are allowed to compete in eSports on any campus so long as they meet the academic requirements laid forth by the National Junior College Athletic Association eSports and eGeneration – the governing body that oversees the gaming world for the college level Dallas College competes in. Students must maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average, and take at least 12 credit hours per semester to be eligible.

Last year, Dallas College North Lake hosted an equality in eSports event to encourage more female representation. This year, Eastfield has capitalized in that push, and Carbajal is living proof.

"This is a good opportunity," Carbajal said. "I would be proud if someone were to look at our team and all the females on our team, and think, 'Wow, that could be me.'"