Esports represents one of the fastest growing recreational activities on college campuses. The webinar presents results from recent research focused on the lifestyle and wellbeing of esports participants at the collegiate level, aiming at providing valuable information to help guide better practices for campus recreation administrators.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, university campuses began to close or move into virtual operations to attempt to prevent the spread of the virus around the United States, pausing all co-curricular learning opportunities at the campuses, including club sports for the estimated 2 million students who participate in these programs annually. This study, funded by a NIRSA Research Grant, attempts to determine the impact that the pandemic had on club sports participation and operations, both in the 2020-2021 academic year when campuses were first learning to operate with the virus, and over the full four academic year period from 2019-2020 to 2022-2023. The study collected data from club sports departments at 107 institutions nationwide. Attendees will take away lessons for club sports, collegiate recreation, and student affairs professionals for future events and crises that disrupt normal operations, including severe weather, violence and terrorist acts, and mass illness, including insuring that students feel safe while participating in the immediate aftermath of a disruption, and not being concerned about temporarily suspending operations to respond to the crisis.

There are numerous scales that measure wellbeing. In an effort to assist NIRSA members in selecting the best instrument for the goals and objectives of their work, the Wellbeing Research Work Group, a subgroup of NIRSA’s Health & Wellbeing Task Force, has curated a list of scales that have been: 1. utilized in higher education settings, 2. with college student populations, 3. validated through published research, 4. and are minimal to no cost.