ROCK HILL, S.C. – Josh Sides has been hired as the first head coach of the Winthrop University esports program, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Ken Halpin announced Thursday.
 
Sides has been an active member in the League of Legends community since its first competitive season in 2010, and has an extensive background in coaching and studying the meta-game of both League of Legends and Overwatch, two games that Winthrop eSports will initially play.

According to Dr. Halpin, "Josh brings a great entrepreneurial spirit along with his experience and expertise building a successful esports program. He's going to be a great addition to the Winthrop community and we can't wait for him to get started."

Sides comes to his new position at Winthrop after leading the varsity program at St. Ambrose University (IA) for the past year, which he helped launch in 2018.  In the program's inaugural season, Sides led the Fighting Bees to third place finishes at the Harrisburg University Esports Invitational and the Acer League of Legends Invitational. Additionally, three of his players were invited to the Collegiate Esports Invitational All-Star Tournament in Chicago. 

In the spring of 2019, Sides led St. Ambrose to a 21-4 record in the Tespa Overwatch regular season, which included wins over marquee programs such as Michigan State, Arizona State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The team also won the Paradigm Overwatch Lighthouse League Tournament with a victory over Illinois in the championship match. Sides also led the Fighting Bees to a 5-1 mark in the College League of Legends regular season, capped off by a huge upset win over heavily-favored Iowa State.

"I am excited to have the opportunity to build one of the first eSports programs in Division I NCAA athletics and I would like to thank Dr. Halpin and the members of the search committee for selecting me as the head coach for this undertaking," said Sides. 
 
"I understand the expectations that come along with this opportunity and will look to use my experience from creating the great program at St. Ambrose to help build an elite program at Winthrop. I am looking forward to getting on campus and getting started as a new member of the Winthrop University family!"
 
Sides will begin his duties on April 16 and will immediately begin recruiting for Winthrop's initial esports team, which will begin competition in the fall of 2019. 
 
For more information, please contact Matt Martin, associate athletic director for external operations, at martinma@winthrop.edu.