Feb. 6, 2025
New Ferris State esports director Justin Summe says success in the field is about more than winning games
Ferris State University’s new esports director says success in the field needs to be about more than piling up points on the screen.
Justin Summe, who started in the role this semester, said he plans to tap into his expertise in sport psychology, cryptology, and information systems.
“My experience in esports as a professional athlete, coach, and manager has taught me that success in the industry is about much more than winning games,” Summe said. “Success, to me, is developing communities, teams and players athletically and professionally. At the elite levels of competition, the difference makers for esports athletes are cognitive skills like problem-solving, adaptability, and resilience, to name a few, and these skills are directly translatable in life and careers far beyond gaming.”
Summe is a 2024 summa cum laude graduate of Kennesaw State University in Georgia, where he was responsible for a sport psychology research project that explored how mindfulness and meditation impacted performance and mental health in Division I athletes.
Summe also had informational systems and cryptology studies in the U.S. Navy, through its “A-School,” or accession training.
Summe’s first meeting with Ferris State’s Esports Club Executive Board had him excited about bringing his experiences to this position in Big Rapids.
“There are many players from my competitive past who were and are influencers in gaming,” Summe said. “Many of my close friends, who have become household names in esports, are people I met at events like Twitchcon, tournaments and leagues. These networking experiences were monumental to shaping my career and are now connections that resonate with my students here at Ferris.”
The Center for Virtual Learning, home of Ferris State’s Esports Arena, is in its second academic year of operation.
Summe said Ferris State’s investment in facilities and learning through the Professional Esports Production degree were significant factors in his pursuit of the director position.
“The Center for Virtual Learning’s Esports Arena is an extremely professional setup,” he said. “I believe collegiate esports is gaining on the professional circuit because of the oversight Ferris and other universities are giving to promote and advance this craft. I keep finding elements of the facility as I get more familiar here that will help me grow as a director and adviser.”
Summe and the students interested in competing for Ferris State will be assessed and assigned early in the Spring 2025 semester. They will have matches against Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference institutions and events with other colleges, such as the Ferris-hosted Michigan Bandwidth Bowl.
“Through tryouts and organization of teams, we will be able to assign gamers to ‘premier’ and ‘plus’ leagues, so they can compete appropriately and give it their best,” Justin said. “I feel so lucky to be here, where the university is so invested in the program, having already moved ‘past the corner’ in developing a professional presentation.”