Columbia, Mo. – The Columbia College Athletic Department announced the hiring of Parsa Baghai as the head League of Legends Esports coach earlier this month.
 
"We are excited about adding Parsa to our staff," said Director of Athletics James Arnold. "His knowledge and passion for League of Legends and eSports stood out during the interview process and I was impressed by his approach to teaching and working with high level players."
 
A Mission Viejo, California native, Baghai attended the University of California-Irvine where he studied computer science. In his competitive experience, he has been a League of Legends Top 20 Challenger North America Peak, Adc Main, and Tournament Organizer. He has also competed in the 2014 North American Challenger Series, 2015 North American League Championship Series Expansion Tournament, 2015 North American Challenger Series Qualifiers, 2017 Campus Series Semi Finalist West Region and was the 2018 Collegiate Championship winner.
 
Other notable competitions include Grand Master Player Top 70 in North America, UCI Captain and Manager, an Alpha Participate in the Top 20 North America in Heroes of the Storm. In Overwatch, he had Grandmaster Rating, and was a Substitute Player for the UCI Overwatch Team. In World of Warcraft he was The Great Collegiate Dungeon Race Winner in 2016 and in Dropzone, a Collegiate Dropzone Tournament Finalist in 2017 where he was runner up.
 
Following his collegiate career, Baghai worked with Amazon where he was able to provide feedback and worked directly with game directors in order to improve and polish upcoming titles. After Amazon gaming, he was named Heroes of the Storm Manager and Team Captain for the University of California-Irvine. There he was able to help lead his team to its first Champions of Collegiate League of Legends title in only its second iteration of the scholarship team. In the summer of 2019, Baghai became a team SoloMid Analyst where he helped with weekly scouting, identified global trends, and contributed to player growth.
 
"The foundation of Columbia College's League of Legends program has been regarded as a fierce competitor. Alongside a roster of flourishing talent, I am excited to push them to a championship run further than ever before," said Baghai.