OLDS — There’s another stream of sports to follow at the Olds College of Agriculture and Technology: esports (videogamers in action).
The college announced the new varsity esports program on Sept. 29. It will be offered as part of Broncos athletics and will begin competing in the 2022-23 winter term.
Participants will compete out of the new esports lab in the Bell E-Learning Centre, which features 12 Dell XPS8940 computers and Alienware peripherals.
League affiliation and schedule details are being confirmed; however, the program’s initial titles will be Fortnite, League of Legends, and Rocket League.
The Broncos join Keyano College, SAIT, and Lethbridge College as Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference institutions with esports programs.
In addition to fleshing out their competitive schedule, the Broncos have been working with Esport Canada, a not-for-profit organization that supports Canadian esports by providing community, competition, and resources to help the program get off the ground.
“Olds College of Agriculture and Technology welcomes diverse students into a variety of established and new programs,” Peter Mal, the college’s associate vice-president of students and registrar said in the news release.
“It is great to see this diversity also extended to the competitive recreation opportunities that are available to students.”
The Broncos are also exploring options for youth programming, community gaming nights, and other initiatives to generate interest and awareness of esports.
“It’s amazing to see just how esports have taken off at the collegiate level over the last few years,” Broncos athletics esports program coordinator Geordie Carragher said in a news release.
“It’s a discipline that’s earned more respect as an inclusive activity in the post-secondary landscape, and I’m looking forward to seeing how that translates in Olds.”
“At Olds College, we pride ourselves on innovation,” Trina Radcliffe, the college’s athletics manager said.
"The emergence of esports at the varsity level allows Olds College and Broncos athletics to align some of our core agriculture technology programming and Sport Management students with a competitive varsity experience that will be extremely unique.
“Geordie will have the opportunity to break new ground on a program focused on recruitment, education and community engagement in the world of esports, and we look forward to seeing it grow.”
This story, provided by the Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, was edited by the Albertan.
