Since the beginning of the pandemic, Universities and Colleges have struggled to keep athletics afloat. Enter a new wave of sports: esports.
Esports is an opportunity for students who share the same interest and love for video games to connect from all across the country.
The Canadian Collegiate Esports League started in May of 2020 to allow students to follow their gaming passions. Any student that has paid their Recreation & Athletic Fee can join at no additional cost. Students can sign up for the NAIT team through their student portal.
Carole Holt, Well-Being Manager at NAIT, is ready for students to have the chance to bring their gaming abilities to the table.
“There is no decided set of games, [but we’ll] ideally [have] one to two events every month. The events will showcase a wide variety of games to gauge interest,” said Holt.
So far, the games have been NBA2K22, Online Chess, Fortnite and Rocket League. Seeing as the league is still new, this list is only going to increase.
“There are currently no practices for these teams but we are slowly working towards that working along aside NAITSA clubs,” said Holt.
NAIT joined this league seven to eight months ago and is already seeing success with a NAIT student winning first place at the Summer Knights Chess Event.
“The league hosts weekly meetings that a well-being staff member attends and forwards the information back to the well-being’s team, who then proceed to forward the information to students through various outlets,” said Holt.
These outlets include posters on campus detailing upcoming events.
“Feedback from the events has been positive so far. Students say that the events are super competitive, have had good prizing, and like the opportunity to play students from other schools,” said Holt
NAIT students can find more information on their website.
