Collegiate esports has continued to gain popularity from a mere twenty-five schools at its inaugural in 2009 to above 170 schools, including universities. The game has attracted college scholarships amounting to more than $16 million.
Esports minors learn the skills by joining teams in high schools or universities under the guidance of a coach who guides them on running drills, strategy development, and reviews before actively participating in a college esports tournament with different schools within the states.
What are college esports tournaments?
College esports tournaments are a fast-growing e-game played using computers. The word esports stands for electronic sports and are played between professionally trained individuals or teams. The game is mostly streamed live on Twitch Television Network, a live video streaming service provider and an amazon subsidiary.
The teams come up with their team jerseys and the esports fans are free to wear their team’s jerseys, attend the tournaments in the arenas or watch live on Twitch. The players are allowed to freely communicate with their teammates or coaches during the game.
In the USA, collegiate esports began in 2009 with about 75 schools that formed esports clubs and played an undefined number of video games in tournaments. The game has currently spread into many countries around the world, with thousands of colleges taking part.
The NACE (national association of college esports) is the umbrella body which organizes tournaments and programs for colleges to participate in. Although there is an argument on whether the NCAA has the right to take control of collegiate esports given that esports is viewed as a sedentary game other than an athletic endeavor.
What are the esports programs to prepare for?
Esports games do not require large stadiums like the traditional athletics games, but an arena or a renovated classroom can perfectly serve for a tournament. Schools and colleges arrange funding through partnering with sponsors and game developers for the supply of items like team jerseys, computers, practice facilities, and coaches.
Before we list the major esports programs, you also need to keep in mind that it should not stop your academic preparation of any kind. Students must always know the importance of maintaining a balance between studies and other activities. There are engineering and MBA essay services that can help you do your assignments successfully on time and provide you a quality that your teachers always expect. The first recommendation in this regard is always EduBirdie as students and teachers have trusted it for years for their academic assignment writing work.
Tespa
Tespa has its background in Texas and was formed by the Texas esports Association and later became a subsidiary of the blizzard. By 2019, it had hosted tournaments like Overwatch collegiate championships, call of duty, and Hearthstone collegiate programs. This is a national tournament open to any university student within the USA and Canada.
Collegiate Starleague
This was the pioneering esports program in 2009 and has grown to more than 1800 colleges and 11,000 teams and offers online services like league operations, development of curriculum, and intramural league.
The main sponsors of the game include league of legends, street fighter, gears, NBA 2K, overwatch, and CS:GO. Its upcoming tournaments include Super Smash bros, street fighter, and Fortnite, all set for December 6, 2020.
College league of legends
It is a video game where multiple online players get engaged in a battle arena developed by riot games. Teams seek to destroy their opponent’s base and bring down towers towards victory.
The program features weekly matches between schools based in the USA and Canada and the finals are held live in LA.
Electronic gaming federation
Founded in 2013, the EGF is a private esports entity whose mandate is to operate in an esports-friendly environment. It aims to build, govern, and offer support to students to grow and develop in an ecosystem that offers an activity-filled academic learning system. This in turn helps them in all aspects including writing papers, self-confidence and overall competitiveness.
EGF programs offer education programs for esports to colleges and high schools that enable learners to access live broadcasting of esports events.
Why is it fun and interesting to join esports programs?
Esports is full of fun and you’re not limited on how many leagues you participate in as long as you get registered through a program. Globally, esports revenue continues to soar to more than 3billion annually shared between players, gaming developers, and sponsors.
Esports’ popularity has soared with TV. Channels fighting to air the championships live and the prize tags continue to increase, with some games attracting prizes amounting to $3million for winners and 50 thousand for runners up.
Unlike traditional athletics, where injuries are common, injuries are unheard of in esports because all you do is sit on a gaming chair in an arena and play on a computer.
Conclusion
Esports is headed towards landslide recognition globally and it might overtake the traditional athletic games owing to their popularity among the young generation. Gaming companies and an unlimited number of sponsors have teamed up to make esports a reality in mainstream colleges and outside the institutions of learning. Looking into the figures of cash involved and the large viewership during tournaments, it is evident that esports will soon become part of undergraduate programs.
Author Bio:
Paul Calderon works as a blogger for a leading website and is a contributor to some of the best online magazines. He’s equally good in academic writing and works part-time as a thesis and dissertation writer for a college writing service. In his free time, he loves watching news channels, reading business books and playing board games with his kids.