Ward signs with St. Ambrose eSports

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield’s Grant Ward never thought his passion for video games could pay off the way it is now. Ward, a longtime gaming enthusiast, will be joining the St. Ambrose University eSports team, after signing his letter of intent with the Bees on Thursday.

“I've been a huge video game fanatic since I was a little kid playing with my brother,” Ward said. “I would watch people online doing these huge tournaments altogether, and there was always a thought in the back of my head, like 'that would be so much fun to do.' I never really thought I'd have the opportunity.”

Ward will be going to St. Ambrose to study exercise science, and plans on going into a physical therapy school. He says he was thrilled to find out one of his target schools had an opening.

“Once I found out about Saint Ambrose and their eSports program, I just thought more and more about it,” Ward said. “Once I finally figured out Saint Ambrose was the school I wanted to go to, it was just like, 'why not?'”

Ward will be focusing on Super Smash Brothers Ultimate when he gets to St. Ambrose. He says Super Smash Brothers has been the most competitive game between he and his brother since they were growing up.

Ward credits the Fairfield eSports team for helping him grow as a gamer. The Trojans, under eSports Sponsor John Grunwald, have grown rapidly over the last couple of years.

“There were probably eight to 10 of us at the start, in my sophomore year,” Ward recalled. “It has really started to blow up in popularity.”