ANNVILLE, PA (07/24/2019) -- David Shapiro, Lebanon Valley College's director of Esports, was elected to a three-year term on the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Competition Council during the organization's annual national conference. Shapiro, who also serves as LVC's senior director of information technology and chief information officer, joins representatives from nine other colleges and universities on the ten-member council. The council serves as a subsidiary of the NACE board of directors.

The NACE board reviews and votes on proposed alterations to the organization's constitution and bylaws, among other duties. Items the board consider include a NACE National Letter of Intention and eligibility enforcement standards. The board has already approved an Intent to Compete letter, which once signed by a student-athlete, provides them with five calendar years to compete in collegiate Esports.

"Being elected by my peers to the NACE Competition Council speaks to the growth of Lebanon Valley College's nine-competition Esports program, the first varsity intercollegiate program in Pennsylvania," said Shapiro. "It will benefit our student-athletes for Lebanon Valley College to be part of the decision-making process for this burgeoning sport."


About NACE

The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) is a nonprofit membership association organized by and on behalf of its member institutions. NACE formed on July 28, 2016, at the first-ever Esports Summit in Kansas City, MO. At that time only seven colleges and universities had varsity Esports programs. Since, more than 150 institutions have launched varsity programming. As of January 2018, more than 94% of all U.S. varsity Esports programs were members of NACE.

About LVC Esports

In January 2018, Lebanon Valley College became the first college or university in Pennsylvania to start a varsity, intercollegiate Esports program. The program is led by Dave Shapiro '99 (director of operations), Joe D'Angelo '16 (head coach), Jordan Shankroff '15 (assistant coach), and Elliott Kleckner '18, M'20 (assistant coach). With support from Candoris, a Pennsylvania-based technology solutions provider, LVC Esports-athletes compete in nine competitions: Call of Duty (fall 2019), Counter Strike, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Overwatch, Paladins (fall 2019), Rocket League, Smite, and Super Smash Bros.

LVC's programs are competitive, including a 3-2 Hearthstone win over the nation's #1-ranked team this past spring. This summer LVC expanded its Esports competition arena to create gaming space for all nine sports. And, this fall, the College launched its Esports scholarship program, which provides financial support for four years to recruited student-athletes.