
Director @WinthropEsports l 2x Collegiate Esports Director of the Year l 🦅 My opinions are my own
Joined April 2019
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Josh Sides retweeted
Seeing threads constantly like what this ktg guy types is so annoying, It's so fucking frustrating watching NA teams continue to import mediocre players year after year instead of giving our own talent a chance, just for everyone to turn around and say "NA has no talent" whenever we get embarrassed internationally.
How are we supposed to develop talent when so many of our own players never even get a real opportunity? You have NA players grinding for years, performing at the top of Tier 2, doing everything they possibly can to prove themselves, just to get overlooked for an import who isn't necessarily even better than them.
It feels like NA players have to prove twice as much just to be considered for the same opportunities. Being an import shouldn't automatically make you more valuable than a domestic player, and having played in Korea doesn't automatically mean you're better than someone who's been grinding in NA for years.
Look at some of the best international performances the West has ever had. 2015 Fnatic and Origen making Worlds semifinals, 2016 CLG making MSI finals, 2018 C9 making Worlds semifinals, 2018 Fnatic making Worlds finals, 2019 G2 winning MSI and making Worlds finals, and even G2 this year at First Stand, sweeping both FearX and Gen.G to make grand finals.
So many of our best international performances have come from teams that actually invested in their own region's talent and built strong domestic cores. Why do we constantly act like the answer to becoming internationally competitive is to import more players?
There's so much value in having five players who speak the same language fluently, understand each other, share the same goals, and are genuinely hungry to prove themselves and represent their region. Having that team chemistry, communication, and players who actually want to build something together matters so much more than people want to give it credit.
I'm not saying every import is bad. There have obviously been imports who have elevated the level of competition in NA, and those players deserve their spots. But importing should be about bringing in players who genuinely improve your team, not just signing someone because they played in Korea or another major region.
You can't keep overlooking domestic talent, refusing to develop players, and then use the lack of NA talent as an excuse when things don't work out. There are plenty of players in NA Tier 2 right now who are more than capable of competing in the LCS and would be better than the import you’re thinking of signing over us once again. We just need organizations willing to actually take chances on us players, invest in our development, and give us a real opportunity to succeed.
At some point organizations need to stop looking everywhere else for the answer and actually invest in the players they already have here.
What Paulo typed at the bottom is only a handful of the people good enough / have the ability and deserve to promote up. Don’t keep saying NA has no talent when you refuse to give NA talent a chance.
Josh Sides retweeted
a love letter to college esports programs 💌
Putting faces to the names of the players that compete for your program on your social media will help more people care about your matches and provide more value to the students on your teams ‼️
Posting match days is a great start to covering your teams but how can you expect the parents, friends, and general college esports scene to care about your games & interact with your posts if the only visual representation they ever get are renders of the in game characters your players are playing as.
**(Doing both is good and we also do this at Winthrop in certain situations or for specific purposes)**
I would rather see a cell phone photo used than ever see a student go four years practicing, competing, and even potentially winning championships for your school than have them never receive any real recognition for the time put in.
This isn’t a hateful message - I know that some program’s socials are run by a director wearing 10 hats or a student new to everything and trying their best.
In the past 7 years that I’ve been around this has improved tenfold, just wanted to shout into the abyss one more time and convince more ppl to follow suit.
❤️
We're down to the last 2 teams fighting for the #1 seed!
#WUCLUB vs @OaklandEsports
Come support us on stream at 8:30pm EST tomorrow!
I will be streaming the whole thing! twitch.tv/tob1_vlr
Today's match day against @unfesports !
We are playing for the top 2 possibly top 1 spot!
Please continue supporting us as we continue our undefeated streak!
8:30 EST: twitch.tv/tob1_vlr
Josh Sides retweeted
LFT 2027
I'm exploring LCS and international opportunities for 2027.
What I accomplished in 2026:
🏆 NACL Summer Split Champion
🥉 3rd Place LCS Promotion Tournament
⭐ 1st Team All Pro ADC - Summer
🥈 2nd in MVP Voting - Summer
🥇 NACE Player of the Year
⭐ 3rd Team All Pro ADC - Spring
🥉 3rd Place Spring Split
🥈 2nd Place CLOL
🌎 5th-8th WSCI
I'm confident in what I bring to a team and excited to compete at the highest level in 2027.
References available upon request.
Contact @n8laprade for inquiries.
Likes + RTs appreciated ❤️
Josh Sides retweeted
Heading to the Sunshine State ☀️
#WURL has qualified for the Alienware Collegiate Clash in Miami, FL!
Josh Sides retweeted
We have our first 4 teams for the AWCC 2027 LAN!
Congratulations to
@NorthwoodEsport
@WVUEsports
@BaylorEsports
@WinthropEsports
for being the top 4 in our first 32 round qualifier bracket!
#AWCC2027 #IntelGaming
Coach Haskell is one of the few people in the space that really and truly understands what collegiate esports is and should be about. Firmly on the collegiate esports Mt. Rushmore, if this is truly him hanging up the headset for good, he will be deeply missed
On the other hand you couldn't ask for someone better to step into the shoes. Kelsey Moser is someone who has always done things the right way. Very knowledgeable and a great culture setter, excited to see what she will accomplish at the helm
Haskell steps down as esports head coach
broncosports.com/news/2026/1…
Got our opponents this week! WU Club will be facing off against @KennesawEsports White this Wednesday at 8:30 EST!
This is another undefeated vs. undefeated matchup! (Neither of us has dropped a map.)
The turnout for last week was insane!
Please continue supporting us in chat!
KSW: twitch.tv/kennesawesports
TOBI: twitch.tv/tob1_vlr
Just found out our #NACE opponents for week 2 are @FullSailArmada Club. Mark your calendars, as both I and FSA should be streaming the event at 8PM EST this Wednesday! I hope you come to support us, and GOOD LUCK FSA :D #REPTHEWU #WUCLUB #RocktheHill #Valorant #esports
My POV (3 min delay): twitch.tv/tob1_vlr
FSA: twitch.tv/fullsailarmada
Excited to announce that tomorrow at 4 PM EST I’ll be hosting a $1,000 3v3 community tournament, draft style, brought to you by Rewired Fest!
If you’d like to compete, make sure to join my Discord and sign up there.
We’ll also be doing a giveaway, with one lucky winner taking home a special prize.
See you tomorrow! #ad
Streets are calling it the most Unc list of all time, but I do think these are the 9 that most influenced/had the biggest impact
Honorable Mentions:
Madden
Minecraft
World of Warcraft
Guitar Hero/Rock Band
COD MW2/Black Ops
SW Rogue Squadron
my9games.net/en/share/2f9adb…
i'd love to see a shift away from stats culture. it may seem a lil backwards to enter tourneys and not care about results, but trust me when i say it's freeing
i like that in smash itself, on the results screen, the character that lost still smiles and claps. in a way, they won
Josh Sides retweeted
Go To college y'all..
So that you too can school two world champions when they show up to dive you under your tower!
#Denagnar
Josh Sides retweeted
Made a new twitch account so I can get partner please follow twitch.tv/infektedow (Likes and retweets appreciated to help spread)
Congratulations to @MaryvilleGG on becoming the first collegiate team to qualify for the LCS promotion tournament
Definitely stings to come as close as we did, but given the challenges we had to overcome this split, especially in surprise losing our star top laner to the LCS after the roster lock, I don’t think anyone outside of this program thought we would make it nearly as far as we did
I want to take this time to say how proud of all of the players and coaches I am
Berik stepping into some big shoes last minute and performing well
Wilson and Kim Down putting in great performances all year and serving as the bedrock for the roster after all of the changes
Samikin for coming into a new environment and not only returning to form but elevating his gameplay to new heights
Tomo putting on superstar carry performance after superstar carry performance, stepping back out of the coach role and reminding everyone who he is
Tails for his incredible leadership in keeping this team together and united in pursuing the same goals and success
Blue, Fulls, and Gab for supporting Tails and the team with everything they needed to be successful
Couldn’t ask for a better group. Throps Out 🦅
Josh Sides retweeted
Thank you to @valesportsna @VALORANT for supporting the collegiate esports ecosystem this weekend and bringing us all together ❤️🔥
#VCTAmericas
Josh Sides retweeted
Our #VCTAmericas Watch Party is well underway with @winthropu students all coming together to watch VALORANT.
Congratulations to our first round of prize winners!






























