He started as nothing more than a kid playing games, but now he is a mentor and guide for Brookdale students.
Chris Boehmer, 36, is the founder and director of the Brookdale eSports Arena, a place both for the public to come have fun and competitive teams to win major competitions against teams across the nation.
To learn how Boehmer got to where he is, it is important to understand his origins. Boehmer got his first ever video game console, a Super Nintendo, at just 6 years old as a Christmas gift. He couldn’t get enough of it, and from then on he was obsessed with all things technology, getting his first computer when he was in fifth grade.
His fascination with computers led him to seek a degree in the field, studying first at Brookdale and getting a bachelor’s degree in network technology. Despite having no formal education in the field, Boehmer worked full time in I.T. (information technology) here before even getting his degree.
And that’s where it could have ended. Just another guy, in just another office, doing just another job. But that’s not where it ended. “[Administrators] from Brookdale wanted esports here… That eventually snowballed into [gaining the] director of esports title and building the esports arena from the ground up.” Boehmer said that he had a plan in advance on how to build the esports program here and a desire to make it a success. Live-streaming matches every night, intense tryouts every season, these were all in his vision for a flourishing esports program.
Boehmer insisted from day one that the arena be open to the public. Although most schools with esports programs only allow members of teams to use the facilities, Boehmer believed that by having the arena be public access, it would lead to more foot traffic, more people finding out about the arena, more people trying out for teams, and more students enjoying themselves.
And that’s how he ended up where he is today. Director of a flourishing esports program, with more teams and more players every season, more employees to help him run the place, teaching more and more students the ins and outs of esports, live-steaming equipment, and developing a community for people like him, passionate about gaming.
