{"id":1471,"date":"2019-12-11T16:40:52","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T16:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vpms1.humber.smartmanagedservers.com\/sweatmag\/?p=1471"},"modified":"2019-12-11T17:12:46","modified_gmt":"2019-12-11T17:12:46","slug":"a-league-of-our-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/a-league-of-our-own\/","title":{"rendered":"A League of Our Own"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Kelvin Tran<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Halloween Night at The Hive, a bar and grill in downtown Toronto for gaming and eSports. Photo by Kelvin Tran<\/em><\/strong>

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A couple of years ago, playing video games in school would have been inconceivable. Now it is considered normal, a part of education by both students and teachers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colleges in the OCAA are forming their own eSports teams and hosting their own tournaments. Humber, St. Clair, Lambton, Durham, Fanshawe, Sheridan, and recently Niagara College have all created eSports clubs for various competitive games. Lambton College opened its own Esports Arena in 2017, followed by Durham College in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ESports is getting bigger and bigger each year with no signs of stopping, with around 221 million viewers as of March 2019 according to the Esports Charts website. Intel, a company specializing in computer technology, is hosting a World Open Esports Tournament as a lead up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    A gaming rig such as this can cost several thousand dollars, but they are essential for any competitive PC gamer. Photo by Kelvin Tran

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    It might become an official varsity sport under the OCAA, which may help aspiring professional gamers on the collegiate level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Some colleges now have programs dedicated specifically to eSports. One example is Lambton\u2019s two-year Esports Entrepreneurship and Administration diploma program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt is the first comprehensive eSports management program in North America. We\u2019re the first ones to do it,\u201d says Matthew Hutchinson, the Program Coordinator of the Esports Entrepreneurship and Administration program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He says, St. Clair and other colleges in Canada are working toward developing a similar program. There are also a couple of universities in the United States who are working on their own programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cSo, it\u2019s very cool that we\u2019re the first ones and it\u2019s also very cool that other schools are now also following that trend,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The program is closely tied with Lambton\u2019s Esports teams, as they make up about 60 to 70 per cent of the students enrolled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThey absolutely work in the program and they also fulfill responsibilities on respective teams too,\u201d says Hutchinson. \u201cIf they are a player, then we do offer opportunities for our students to be team manager, or to be a team analyst, or to help with social media, or to help with our Twitch channel in livestreaming our competition and building content.\u201c Organizing events and buying the equipment is not cheap however, competitive gaming requires expensive equipment including computers, game consoles, TVs, video games, chairs, headsets, and other kinds of specialized paraphernalia. The money comes from various sources such as student unions, the college, or sponsors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThe funding for the eSports programs came from Durham College as well as a large portion of equipment was donated from our sponsors Lenovo and Monster Energy,\u201d says Sarah Wagg, manager of the Durham Esports Arena. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sometimes it is paid by the students themselves and other supporters of eSports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cFunny enough, a lot of it is paid out of my pocket or my COO\u2019s (Chief operating officer) pocket. We rely on the community to bring us consoles, so it\u2019s a lot of community driven stuff. A lot of people are really hyped about eSports and are really, really invested in it,\u201d says Haris Rehan, President of Sheridan Esports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    “It’s the first comprehensive ESPORTS management program in North America.”<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Opinions vary on whether or not eSports will become an official varsity sport in the OCAA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThere is, but we are also mindful of the fact that when you do enter into a governing organization like the NCAA or like the OCAA. What that leads to is a lot of bureaucracy and a lot of legislation around schools or the players as student athletes,\u201d says Hutchinson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He says right now the advantage that they have, by not having a governing body, is that this is an opportunity for athletes to compete for prize money in a collegiate organization while also obtaining an education. If they win, the athletes get to keep the prize money. There is no government body to give a cut to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAs of right now, we have no plans for form an eSports league with other colleges. The nature of eSports makes creating a league difficult since there\u2019s many titles to choose from. As of right now, our plans are to field a strong team in all the games we support and compete in other collegiate tournaments throughout the year,\u201d says Matthew D\u2019Angelo, Operations Officer at Sheridan Esports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cOur goal is to build a prime example of what a collegiate eSports organization should function like including building individual students brands up to help them becomes professionals,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, there are eSports leagues that already exist at the collegiate level, one such league is College League of Legends, created by Riot Games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cTrying to create our own OCAA eSports varsity sport is kinda weird because these eSports leagues already exist and the big ones that the majority of the competitive player base at the collegiate level participate in, they already play in collegiate leagues that are supported and funded by those publishers and developers that made that game,\u201d says Rehan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He says if the OCAA really wants to make it into a varsity sport, it will have to wait until all participating colleges are at the same level with their eSports programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThe OCAA can help, if they really want to get into making it a varsity sport,\u201d says Rehan. \u201cI think it is less about us getting together because each eSports program is at a different level. If you compare us to Durham, Durham is definitely ahead of us because they started the process earlier than we did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Dedicated gaming spaces are becoming more commonplace as eSports grows within the mainstream, both in industry and media. Photo by Kelvin Tran<\/em><\/strong>

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    He also says each program will need an academic portion to it, a dedicated training facility for players to practice, having secure funding, some level of content creation, and many other elements that must exist in order to succeed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s more of a process that will take a very long time, but it\u2019s a process that\u2019s going to change the North American culture of eSports,\u201d says Rehan. \u201cYou know how many people, like the older generations, look at gamers as people who sit in their basements, who don\u2019t do anything but play games, with no real benefit to it. However, people who play games as gamers know there is real benefit, there\u2019s a lot of community, we\u2019re not introverts who sit inside. We go to college, talk about eSports, play games, have a great time, and people are competitive and super talented.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He says, it will be a couple years before all the colleges are on the same level before they can sit down and create a league. But it will also depend on cooperating with the OCAA to make it happen, and there needs to be some incentive for college students to play in their league rather than the ones that already exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cContent creation, the ability to brand players, is extremely important because that\u2019s where the eSports industry is headed,\u201d says Rehan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s less about competition, but who you are as a player and what your narrative is. That\u2019s how you push your brand and that\u2019s where teams make money essentially, to brand their players.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Kelvin Tran A couple of years ago, playing video games in school would have been inconceivable. Now it is considered normal, a part of education by both students and teachers.  Colleges in the OCAA are forming their own eSports teams and hosting their own tournaments. Humber, St. Clair, Lambton, Durham, Fanshawe, Sheridan, and recently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[195],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4.jpg",1440,960,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-160x160.jpg",160,160,true],"medium":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-640x427.jpg",640,427,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-768x512.jpg",696,464,true],"large":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-1280x853.jpg",696,464,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4.jpg",1440,960,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4.jpg",1440,960,false],"td_150x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-150x100.jpg",150,100,true],"td_218x150":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-218x150.jpg",218,150,true],"td_300x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"td_324x400":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-324x400.jpg",324,400,true],"td_485x360":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-485x360.jpg",485,360,true],"td_696x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-696x464.jpg",696,464,true],"td_1068x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4-1068x712.jpg",1068,712,true],"td_1920x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/KT-4.jpg",1440,960,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"sweatmag","author_link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/author\/sweatmag\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Kelvin Tran A couple of years ago, playing video games in school would have been inconceivable. Now it is considered normal, a part of education by both students and teachers.  Colleges in the OCAA are forming their own eSports teams and hosting their own tournaments. Humber, St. Clair, Lambton, Durham, Fanshawe, Sheridan, and recently…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1471"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1528,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471\/revisions\/1528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}