Bio

Fernando Paiva was recently hired as head coach of the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy inaugural 2020-21 Esports program.

Paiva was born in Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and made his way to the United States on a tennis scholarship at Bethany College (Kan.). He played two years at Bethany before transferring to the University of Mobile (Ala.) for his final two years of eligibility. As a student-athlete, Paiva was recognized for his academic success, earning Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete, Southern State Athletic Conference All-Academic, and Capitol One Academic All-American honors.

After graduation, tennis remained a focal point in Paiva's life. He took a graduate assistant coaching position at Delta State University (Miss.), worked as tennis director at several summer camps, and even had a stint as a tennis instructor at the Tennis Academy at Harvard.

In addition to tennis, Paiva has had a passion for gaming and competing since the tender age of six. He now has experience coaching Esports teams, as well as commentating on competitions. Paiva is a regular caster and commentator for League of Legends, Valorant, and CSGO Esports competitions. He did media coverage of the 2019 LCS Finals (Detroit, Mich.) and 2019's League of Legends World Tournament (all over Europe), interviewing players, coaches, and staff members, and covering the events. In addition, Paiva has coached a League of Legends team from Brazil (remotely), saving them from relegation on their first split and getting second place in the tournament on their second split.

Paiva is excited for the opportunity to start up the inaugural Esports program at UHSP this year. Since his arrival in St. Louis in early September, he has been readying the newly constructed state-of-the-art Esports arena in Jones Hall for competition. (The new arena inhabits the space formerly used by the university's business offices.) Through his tireless efforts, including surveys, meetings, and tryouts, Paiva has recruited nearly 60 current students to participate in his program at the varsity, junior varsity, and club levels. The varsity and junior varsity programs will hopefully begin competitions this year for League of Legends.

Once the program gets off the ground for 2020-21, Paiva will begin recruiting future student-athletes from outside the university. He is excited to begin implementing his many ideas to take full advantage of the beautiful UHSP Esports facility, drawing student-athletes from within and outside of the UHSP community.

"I am blessed to be chosen as UHSP's head coach and I plan on sharing the blessing with my teams," said Paiva. "My goal is that we can not only have teams that fight head on for the National Championships, but to also develop great human beings who will help their communities. #GOEUTECTICS!"