Nov 27th – The Sojourn’s Athlete of the Week, presented by Amplify Media, is Jourdain Brown from the Indiana Wesleyan Esports team.
Brown is a 5th-year Senior from Brownsburg, IN, on the Smash Ultimate roster.
“Super Smash Brothers came out when I was in high school, and I’m a huge Nintendo fan. Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Mario Party. I picked it up in high school,” Brown said.
IWU Esports is in its second season. The program is led by Head Coach Ryan Plummer.
“Dain (Jourdain) has been an absolute blessing for us this semester. He came in with no competitive experience in Smash Bros,” Coach Plummer said. “But was able to learn the fundamentals quickly. This allowed him to move from a new player to taking the most sticks in one match for our team in the fall season.”
Before joining the Esports team, Brown was a four-year member of the Men’s Basketball team.
“Switching sports,” Brown said. “It’s a whole new [thing]. Super Smash Brothers is such a mental game. It gets to the point where it’s just a lot of tactics and mental gameplay.”
Freshman teammate Jeb Byrd has seen Brown’s leadership despite being on the Rocket League roster.
“He does things out of love,” Byrd said. “He is also a humble guy.”
Coach Plummer has seen Brown’s addition to the team as crucial as he is the only upperclassman on all three rosters.
“He’s been an amazing leader for us, offering guidance to our young team and leading by example,” Coach Plummer said. “He has the pulse of the team and has suggested team meetings, helped resolve conflicts, held players-only meetings and communicated issues.”
Brown has gone from walking in on “Walk-On Day” to being the team captain quickly.
“Once they saw me play, they said yes, you’re good,” Brown said. “I ended up being team captain, and that’s where we are at.”
Brown has taken his mindset from the basketball team and translated to his leadership with Esports.
“Dain was a blessing from God this semester. God knew exactly what we needed in a captain this year, and I’m so glad Dain answered God’s call to try out for the team,” Coach Plummer said. “Even though we’ll probably only have him for one more semester, he’s had such a huge impact that he’ll leave a lasting legacy.”
IWU Esports will continue its season in January.
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