American Colleges Looking To Overhaul CDL Challengers With Scholarships
After seeing the Call of Duty League: Challengers scene receive little support during the opening months of the Vanguard era, even having the opening Cups delayed, players have begun heading in a new direction, with the collegiate level of competition becoming a popular destination.
The Call of Duty College League, or CCL, is known for supporting upcoming players in getting an education whilst being able to push their CoD careers to the next level. However, the community has become disgruntled in the fact that a former CoD World Champion has accepted a scholarship to compete in the CCL, alongside some of the Challengers' best prospects.
Silly Joins CCL's Bay State College
Justin "SiLLY" Fargo-Palmer, a 2018 World Champion with Evil Geniuses, has officially signed with Bay State College, in which he is expected to be receiving a full scholarship to play.
The Assualt Rifle main was contracted to Minnesota Rokkr during the inaugural CDL season before moving to Los Angeles Guerrillas in the second, but has been unable to sign a professional contract in the CDL's third year, opting to move to the Collegiate level.
Alongside SiLLY, the Bay State College has also offered scholarships to Dillon "Wrecks" Slotter, Jacob "Druxy" Eldridge, and Timothy "Phantomz" Landis - the latter of who has also played at the professional level for Evil Geniuses during Black Ops 4 and was a substitute for Paris Legion in 2021.
Players React To Former Pros Joining The CCL
The move has been met with many mixed reactions throughout the professional and College-level scenes. Los Angeles Guerrillas newest focal point Austin "SlasheR" Liddicoat weighed in on the situation, saying that "being able to get a scholarship for cod is dope," whilst Doug "Censor" Martin was equally "mindblown".
On the flip side, others have argued that the signings are damaging the CCL scene, in an attempt to cash-grab from lesser players.
With no improvements to the Challengers scene set to be implemented any time soon, other players have also hinted at making the move if a CCL side comes knocking - with the lack of organisations in Challengers making it hard to make a sustainable living. Former Rokkr player Adam "GodRX" Brown was just one of many others to admit being open to the idea, as the CCL looks to take over Challengers.
The Challengers Cup is set to kick off this month, although it's yet to be seen if any more players will filter over to the CCL before it commences.