What do a freshman zoology major Michael Steelman and a senior fine arts major Harrisen Carney have in common?

Ask the two Kent State students, and they will tell you it is a love for Pokémon and a desire to create a league for other Pokémon lovers on campus.

Steelman and Carney came up with the idea to create the Kent State Pokémon League in last November.

“When I started this, it was more of just an idea; more like a dream” Carney said. “I didn’t realize it could become something much bigger until I found a lot of people who were interested.”

From November until now, Carney and Steelman have been on the fast track to building the league, first by recruiting officers for president [Carney], vice president, archivist, technical advisor and proctor [Steelman]. Finding interested members was next.

“I knew there were plenty of people on campus who actually play Pokémon, and I thought, ‘why not challenge them?’ We could make this something great,” Steelman said.

By recruiting through word of mouth and fliers around campus, it didn’t take long for the league to gain its 56 Facebook members. As interest in the league continues to grow, the officers are planning to go through the registration process to be recognized as a student organization.

“It would mean a lot to me to be a registered organization, especially before I graduate,” Carney said. “I would have a chance to leave something behind that could last a very long time.”

Savanna Horton, a sophomore zoology major, is one of the newer members of the group who would also like to see the league become an official organization.

“I feel like it would be great because becoming official would bring more people in,” Horton said. “The more people, the more fun the game becomes.”

The league meets tentatively on Friday and Sunday nights in Beall Hall. Carney and Steelman emphasized that anyone with interest in the game is always welcome.

“You don’t have to be a computer nerd in order to like Pokémon,” Carney said. “We have a variety of people who are from all different majors; people from computer science to me—as a fine arts major of all people—that are just interested in the game.”  

Interested students can visit the Kent State Pokémon League page on Facebook and register for membership.

Players can be connected to each other on their Nintendo DS through the Kent State gaming network.

Whether someone wants to join the league for a love of Pokémon like Carney and Steeleman or for a way to meet new people like Horton, the officers said they would like to see the league continue to grow.

“Where I see us a year down the road is hopefully with lots of members, still around, and still successful” Steelman said.

For more information about the variety of Pokémon games to play on Nintendo DS, go to the official Nintendo game guide website.

Contact Endya Watson at [email protected].