You won’t find students working on term papers in what was once a computer lab near a residence hall at Stockton University.

The outdated lab is now home to the college’s esports club team — a gamer’s haven where students are using self-built computers to play online games at a competitive level. And in some cases, that means money and scholarships.

Esports, which are video game competitions, has been gaining a lot of popularity around the world, so much so that there have been discussions of adding it to the Olympics. One professional team that plays NBA2k19, 76ers GC, is affiliated with the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, who has a practice facility in Camden. Games are also streamed on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube, at times garnering hundreds of thousands of viewers

The university showed off its new esports facility Tuesday. The former computer lab, now home to a variety of esports teams, is comprised of 15 computers, gamer chairs, and student-built computers. Most of the students have been using the facility between 6 p.m. though 2 a.m. The computer usage and equipment is monitored remotely to see if there are open computers and to make sure everything is secure.

The students compete in online games such as Fortnight, Overwatch, League of Legends, and Rocket League. The availability of esports has already drawn 50 students to join, with even more people interested in participating.

Stockton University chief information officer Scott Huston is one of the integral people involved with the program and helping it get off of the ground. Huston says the students reached out the university about esports because it was something they wanted.

“We wanted to give them the opportunity to have a place where they could come play in a safe environment that would be very community focused,” Huston said. “They can work together and play together, and they are really enjoying it so far.”

The chief information officer said IT and the Stockton athletic department worked together with the students to start the program, and the students even had an event to build the computers that would be optimized for online gaming. The school is now part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), allowing students to compete against other such as Canisius College, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.

“They have been doing great and winning a lot of games,” Huston said. “We hope to send our best teams to Albany, New York for the invitational at the end of March, so we are excited. They are doing a great job in being involved with the building of this and organizing it. I have to give the students a lot of credit.”

Dianna Marinelli plays Overwatch in the new esports facility on the Stockton University campus in Galloway Township

One of the esports athletes is Dianna Marinelli, a biology major who is a leader on one of the two Overwatch teams at the school. Each team has six active players and two substitutes. Marinelli, who has been playing video games ever since she was a kid, heard there was an Overwatch league and started watching it.

“Initially, I hated Overwatch,” Marinelli said. “They had a free weekend to play, and I actually liked it. I liked the feel of the game. It was not too complicated, and it wasn’t too easy, and there were a lot of likable characters, and I just started binging on it.”

The biology major says it is good to have people who share her same interest in video games instead of playing the game alone. She also says it has been a way to meet people and to allow her to break out of her shell. Marinelli also says everyone involved takes their academics seriously and does not spend all of the time playing video games.

“Doing this stuff does not hinder the academic part,” said Marinelli. “A lot of people think that when we are playing video games, we are wasting our time, or that we should be working or doing our homework. I make sure that my players are able to get their work done before they do anything else because obviously, their academics are more important and this is a club sport. People need to get rid of the whole stigma that people who play games are just distracted from their academics. All of the people who come in here to play are super intelligent, get their work done, and know what they have to do. They are responsible.”

Over in the corner of the esports facility, Ryan Steup and Alex Lee were discussing and playing Rocket League. Rocket League is one of the games that is gaining popularity in esports and is a fever dream of soccer and vehicles on steroids.

A new esports facility on the Stockton University campus in Galloway Township opened recently. The facility has 15 student-build computers optimized for online gaming.

Steup is an administrator for the Rocket League and Overwatch teams, meaning he helps keep things organized. Steup says he did not expect the usage and esports teams to grow as fast as it did once the facility was constructed.

“With a lot of the streaming services like Twitch and YouTube, a lot of people can get into showing off their game skills and eventually get picked up by a pro team if they are good enough,” Steup said. “Big name tournaments can bring in hundreds of thousands of views, maybe even more.”

Steup says that Lee is currently competing in a tournament in which he can get up to $50,000 in scholarships.

“That opportunity for students is insane, and can help students pay off student loans and other schooling in a way they have not been able to before and give an opportunity to get scholarships if people do not have any,” Steup added.

Lee thinks that there will be an influx of people watching esports, especially at the colligate level.

“Now that it is coming to colleges, it’s becoming like college football, and people can say ‘that’s my team, I’m going to root for them,” Lee said. “There is more incentive to watch a college esports rather than a pro esports.”

Lee also thinks the increased exposure of esports and Stockton having the program will lead to others deciding to come to the college.

“I think esports will definitely be a deciding factor for students who are interested in eSports,” the Rocket League player stated. “It could be on the same line as football. We have a transfer student coming in who heard about our Rocket League, and he is one of the top 100 players in the world. He would be one of the best colligate players to play on a Rocket League team, and he came here for our Rocket League team, not solely because of it, but it is a perk. I think there is definitely a future.“

Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews or on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips