Recently, British Esports along with Sunderland Software City held an ‘Esports Mixer’ event at The Place, part of the National Esports Performance Campus in Sunderland.
Students at Sunderland College currently studying the Higher National Qualifications in Esports were given the opportunity to engage with a new network of esports businesses who are part of the British Esports and Sunderland Software City Esports Accelerator Programme, an 8-week course in which a range of global businesses have been supported to accelerate their initiatives into their next phase of growth.
Kalam Neale, Head of Education at British Esports said: “It is always so inspiring to work with Sunderland College students. Building on the recognition last year from the AoC’s Edge Award for Excellence in Real World Learning, British Esports Federation have worked on a number of projects this year with students.
“Shining examples of which, in response to the recent riots, are the Thread of Life project, and esports students creating their own business ideas to present to other businesses and entrepreneurs. It was a pleasure to spend time with the students at the National Esports Performance Campus and I look forward to seeing the final outcomes of their projects.”
The latest event on 16 October provided attendees and businesses with the opportunity to engage with and support the next generation of entrepreneurs in Sunderland.
Students attended the networking event and heard pitches from the variety of businesses on the Esports Accelerator Programme, which is a natural next step for many of the students who may want to become part of the esports business cluster developing at the National Esports Performance Campus.
This event aimed to open discussions and raise awareness of the ever-growing esports and video game landscape and to allow individuals to better understand how businesses may be able to engage in new business opportunities in the exciting and engaging esports industry.
Nicholas Wilkinson, who studies A Higher National Diploma (HND) in Esports at Sunderland College said: “As part of my esports course, we delve into different aspects such as how to coach people, how to livestream and how to stay safe while gaming through esports.”
“The esports business mixer was really good – I’ve learned a lot about upcoming projects that are happening, such as AI coaching which I thought was really innovative. I was also able to talk about my own idea with these companies, which is an app and a website that people can use to find other gamers who match their personality as well as finding safe spaces where people can connect with other likeminded individuals and game together.”
Paul Donnelly, Lecturer and Programme Leader in Games and Esports at Sunderland College said: “The amazing relationship the college has with British Esports creates interesting opportunities for students to work with industry to get a real insight into the skills and qualities they need. Esports is such a new and exciting space, and having the opportunities to attend events allows students to have instant access to the organisations who are part of the Accelerator Programme.”
“Our students took part in the mixer to present their own unique business ideas focusing on some of the current issues around esports, and it was a really good opportunity for them to work with local, national and international companies focusing on esports.”
Kaleb Davie, Higher National Certificate (HNC) in sports added: “The esports course is very varied as I do different things such as branding, marketing, networking and games design, and it allows me to be creative.”
“I found the esports mixer very enlightening as it was a chance to see and hear from businesses you wouldn’t normally, which included one company trying to push for more women in esports.”
One of the businesses in attendance was “Reset, Reload”, that offers a wide range of sports psychology tools and techniques to optimise mindset and mental resilience within the esports industry.
Nathan Rowland, Technologist at Reset, Reload said: “We are really excited to work with a lot of academic institutions to see what can be done to improve the student experience when it comes to esports.”
“We hope that by incorporating with colleges, we can form close bonds with those particularly in Sunderland, as we are a Sunderland-based company ourselves. The esports campus here and the mixer event we’ve attended, shows that the North East is going to be a great place to be an aspiring Esports Athlete.”
To find out more about the next Sunderland College open events taking place, including those in collaboration with British Esports click the link – Events Archive – Sunderland College.
Sunderland College, as part of college group EPNE, receives an Outstanding rating across the board in its latest Ofsted inspection.
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98% of our students progress to a positive destination
(*Destination data for Sunderland College students aged 16-18, academic year 2017/18).
Our achievement rates are well above the national average.
We are the College of the Year.
(*Top college nationally for BTECs, Pearson 2019)
100% of our HND and HNC students progressed to employment or further study.
(*Destination data, academic year 2016/17, HNC 19+)
We have recently invested £50 million in our facilities.
