Collegiate Collective – Why and How to Get Involved

With eSports becoming more and more "mainstream", we are seeing more and more competition at all levels from the lofty heights of the LCS, LPL, and LCK to the lower levels of local competitions. This has led to many countries developing a collegiate series surrounding their land’s Universities and Colleges (shout out to my local scene in Ireland who have been at a forefront of this effect running a collegiate tournament and LAN finale). But this raises the question of how can you get involved in your collegiate scene if you're at university or college? Well in this piece, I’m hopefully going to give you some routes on how you can find and get involved in your local collegiate scene.

University Societies

Most universities and colleges should have a student’s union and these unions will have a network of clubs, groups, societies, or otherwise as the purpose of a student’s union is to protect and enhance the student experience in any way they reasonably can. This, alongside eSports becoming more well known, has led to many more student’s unions having a dedicated eSports or competitive gaming society which you can join and so get to know those in your education establishment who play your game of choice (whether it be LoL, CSGO, or another eSports title). Also, alongside the possibility of making new gaming friends, these societies are usually the first point of contact for the collegiate level competition which then gives you the direct route to the collegiate competition as most organizers will reach out to these societies first.

But what if my student’s union doesn’t have this kind of society? Then do what I did at the University of Ulster. Form one! Work with your student’s union, as once word gets out around the student base players come out of the woodwork like you wouldn’t believe so don’t be afraid. Your SU will work with you and once the local collegiate organisers hear about you they will be quick to work with you too, giving you that route to collegiate competition you are searching for.

UUSU E-Sports (Ulster University’s E-Sports Society). 

Local Scene

For any gaming scene, collegiate is not looked over by any means and so it is massively talked about and shared (again shout out to the Irish scene as we all know when collegiate is on and who is playing) in local groups since so many friendships (and memes) are made through it, as was seen by the large group of Irish League of Legends players that almost took over Week 6 EU LCS broadcast.

Your local scene is usually easy to find as there is usually a social media platform (typically Facebook) that can be found by just searching which game your focus is and what country you’re in (all in one search). These groups are very friendly and even if you don’t have a team, don’t be afraid to post looking for potential teammates and/or additional information because as much as we gamers love our elbow rubbing, memeing, and a little bit of trash talk, we love competing and we always will want more. So, don’t be afraid get involved in your local scene and may it lead you to the collegiate competition you desire. The local Irish scene and collegiate environment is exceptionally friendly to new players.

 

Ask Around Your Friends

OK, let’s face it, you're lacking information and you don’t know the local scene yet for whatever reason (whether it be new country or you haven’t been playing all that long), so you only know your local friends and so finding your local competition can seem like scary. Have no fear! Ask those friends. They are your friends and so they will want to help you and you never know, they might be the link you need to get to those who are involved in your local collegiate competition.

P.S. Lower Skill

Now one thing that I have personally found from talking to players in a variety of games is that the concern of, "I’m not good enough for this," but what a lot of people don’t realise is that you don’t have to be the so-called ‘Elite’ to get involved in competition. This is especially relevant in collegiate competition, as many competitive scenes have tournaments for those of lower skill rating (in the very well run Irish competitive scene, it is called Div2 competition) and so, the barrier to entry you think is there, isn’t. In fact, depending on who you ask and where you are, many people enjoy playing in set mentioned lower skill level tournaments more than the higher level for a plethora of reasons (less meta picks, more teams, more clown fiestas, or other reasons). So, don’t let your own fears stop you, collegiate is for everyone, and speaking from experience the more people get involved, the better it is. No matter your skill level, jump in and get involved as you're playing a game you love alongside those who love it too.

Regardless of rank, collegiate is for everyone

Conclusion

To conclude, getting into collegiate eSports is a great experience for any and all of those who even put a little bit of time towards it (regardless of what game they chose to play) and so have to sum this piece up with the following statement. Don’t be afraid to ask around, take the jump, or even take the lead in pursuing an interest in collegiate eSports as the rewards are well worth the reward.