Q & A with Esports Student-Athlete: ItzGingi

Story by CUW esports student-athlete Josh Klausmeier

As the esports industry has exploded over the last calendar year, so has the streaming industry. Just within a single month, over 3.5 million go live on their stream and 140+ million people tune in across platforms like Twitch and Youtube Gaming. With everything needing to stay online, these numbers show no sign of slowing down. 

To get a better understanding of what it is like to be a streamer, I sat down and talked to Concordia University Wisconsin's very own Colby "Gingi" Williams. Gingi has over 8,000 followers on Twitch, helps manage the CUW Esports streaming program and even has started putting out his own Youtube content. He has created the standard of what it looks like to be a student, an athlete, and a streamer. 

What got you into streaming? 

I was in 10th grade playing football and I tore my ACL. I was at home for two weeks, and I liked video games, so I was playing video games all day on my Xbox. I saw this thing called Twitch, so I clicked the button and I started streaming. Ever since then, I have really liked it.  

What is your favorite thing about streaming? 

I fell in love with streaming because it is just meeting new people, and that is such a fun thing for me. I am kind of an extrovert, but I keep to myself a little bit. Online I don't have to, it's a little bit different than real life. You just meet random people, and they could be from South America or Europe, and I would never meet them in real life, but I can meet them online.  

What is your long-term goal in streaming? 

Everybody dreams big, right? You just want to make it your job. That is like the main goal, but if that can't be achieved then it could be a side job or hobby. There have been times where I was raided for 30,000 viewers, and there are times where I am sitting for hours at zero viewers. It doesn't matter to me, I like to do so wherever it takes me, it takes me. The more work you put into it is how far you are going to go.  

How does being on the Concordia Wisconsin Esports team help your stream? 

There are people on the team that I have made friends with and they come and watch the stream. Coach also helps with exposure, and the events we play in. PlayVS, I streamed every week of PlayVS, and I would have quite more viewership than I would normally have to stream a non-event. Also, the Streaming Station set up in there is dope too so I can have an ideal setup during the school year. 

How do you keep yourself motivated to continue to stream, play esports and play football? 

I have played football since I was six, I have played video games since I was 10. They are both things I love to do, it is the love of them.