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  1. #1

    College recruiting gamers as athletes

    This is pretty badass. I hope other colleges get into this and that it is successful. It will be cool seeing how it works out and the future careers of the people who took the course vs, the traditional real time, self-educated gamers who currently lead in the field of esports.

    I don't know if it will be good though, if it reflects negatively on those who do not take the course, should this become a norm in the industry.

    Such as:
    "Oh you wanna compete in X tourney with our team? can I see yer LOL degree please? "

    For peeps more familiar with esports, I have a question:
    I do not know how it goes but I figured teams recruit you, you don't ask the team. Is that how it works?

    College recruiting gamers as athletes

    Robert Morris University will offer about 30 athletic scholarships to students who play the 'League of Legends' video game

    By John Keilman, Tribune reporter

    11:01 p.m. CDT, June 23, 2014



    The idea came to Kurt Melcher, not surprisingly, when he was online searching for video games.

    Melcher is associate athletic director at Robert Morris University, a Chicago-based university that gives out 1,400 athletic and activity scholarships across its 10 Illinois campuses as a way of recruiting and retaining students. But it occurred to him that one sport, rapidly growing in popularity, was missing from the scholarship roster.

    After a little research and the blessing of the university's administration, that's about to change. Robert Morris this fall evidently will be the first school in the country to offer athletic scholarships to students who play the video game "League of Legends." It's a move that seems to stretch the definition of sports and athletes.

    "It's a team sport," Melcher said. "There's strategy involved. You have to know your role in the game. Obviously it's not cardiovascular in any way, but it's mental. There are elements that go into it that are just like any other sport."

    Since news of the scholarships broke last week, Melcher said, the school has received hundreds of inquiries from prospective e-athletes. University President Michael Viollt said the video game team could be a way to reach a population underserved by higher education — technologically minded young men who aren't into team sports, and who need an extra boost to get to college and stay there.

    "I don't care if it's chess club or ice fishing," Viollt said. "We want these kids to be engaged in something they love."

    Competitive video gaming — otherwise known as e-sports — has been around for decades, but the scene has exploded in the past five years. Top players have become celebrities through YouTube channels and live streaming, sometimes earning more than $100,000 a year.

    Big companies are also jumping on the bandwagon as sponsors or tournament organizers: This month, ESPN's X Games awarded its first e-sports gold medal to suburban Chicago-based OpTic Gaming.

    Few games, though, have the reach of "League of Legends."

    The multiplayer battle game pits teams of "summoners" against each other in a race to destroy the opposition's base. It has built a massive global following, with about 27 million people playing on any given day. Thousands of spectators show up to watch professional tournaments in person, and tens of millions more watch online.

    Competitive "League of Legends" has sprung up at the high school and college levels as well. Collegiate Starleague, which runs national championships in three games — "StarCraft II" and "Dota 2" are the others — has gone from about 20 schools at its start in 2009 to 550 schools today.

    That's where Robert Morris will compete starting in the fall, though as of now it has no coach, much less players.

    What it does have is a budget of about $450,000 to fund 30 or so annually renewed scholarships, some of which will be valued at about $19,000 — half the cost of Robert Morris' tuition and room and board. Melcher said the scholarships will stock three varsity teams and a few reserve squads.

    About 700 email inquiries have come in since Robert Morris' scholarship plan started getting publicity last week — a posting on the Web page of Riot Games, the maker of "League of Legends," opened the floodgates — and Melcher said gamers' rankings and the online footage of their prowess likely will affect their scholarship chances.

    Robert Morris senior-to-be Andrew Dicksen, 21, isn't angling for a scholarship; he's already got one as a volleyball player, and the gaming scholarships are intended for new students. But as a devoted "League of Legends" player, he hopes to make one of the teams regardless.

    He sees many parallels between the game and traditional sports, including teamwork, strategy and specialization of skills. He said bringing top-notch gamers into a university athletic department could boost respect for e-sports and bring new kinds of talent to the school.

    "This opens the door to a whole new skill set," he said.

    Viollt said Robert Morris funds sports and activities because it sees them as a way to keep students engaged in their academic work, which emphasizes job readiness. Championships are not the goal — "We've never fired a coach for not winning enough," he said — so much as student participation.

    "It's about the lessons people learn in sports," he said. "We just think all these activities add up to an enriched education."

    Though the gaming scholarships are primarily designed to attract what the school calls an "underserved male" population, they are open to all, and Melcher said some women have inquired about the program. Even if the awards end up going mostly to males, he added, it should not upset the school's scholarship gender balance, which already has strong participation in women's sports.

    News of the scholarships has traveled quickly through the college gaming world. Zi Huang, 19, a Chicagoan who competes for a club at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said he's already seeing his fellow players practice with extra enthusiasm.

    "(The scholarships) just show that 'League of Legends' is a sport and should be recognized by many colleges," he said.

    Kent Brown, spokesman for Illinois' athletic department, said the university is not contemplating the creation of a varsity gaming program.

    Video gaming is not sponsored by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the small-school association in which Robert Morris' teams compete, or the NCAA, so professionals are welcome to participate. Collegiate Starleague awarded $1,500 to San Jose State University's winning "League of Legends" team this year, but founder Duran Parsi said he hopes to switch to scholarship prizes.

    He didn't know of any school other than Robert Morris to offer e-sports scholarships but predicted they would spark similar programs elsewhere, as universities realize the value of linking their institutions to this booming pastime.

    "So many talented people are getting into gaming," he said. "It seems like a no-brainer."

    [email protected]

    Twitter @JohnKeilman


    Copyright © 2014 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC

  2. #2

    This ties in nicely with the Your MMO Experience Could Land You a Job thread.

  3. #3
    I would prefer not to.
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    the world is a dick

  4. #4
    Banned.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mistress Stowastiq View Post
    I don't know if it will be good though, if it reflects negatively on those who do not take the course, should this become a norm in the industry.

    Such as:
    "Oh you wanna compete in X tourney with our team? can I see yer LOL degree please? "
    I think you misunderstood theres no League of legends degree its a scholarship.

  6. #6
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    [fanboy]It would be nice if they recognized that Dota2 is superior to LoL. [/fanboy]

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    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

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    I was born too soon for that Mario Kart scholarship.

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    College you've never heard of offering scholarships to play video games? Sounds legit.

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    To be fair, unless it's a major name, or is [state] State, there are plenty of small old colleges most people never hear about unless they have the location or field to be in the same circle.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Outlaw View Post
    College you've never heard of offering scholarships to play video games? Sounds legit.
    Theres a Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, unsure if they're affiliated but due to copyrightetcetc Id expect so?

  11. #11

    Quote Originally Posted by Outlaw View Post
    College you've never heard of offering scholarships to play video games? Sounds legit.
    It's a respectable university with a fairly decent athletic program. Nothing amazing, but they've made the NCAA basketball tournament plenty of times before, 2010 being the last time. That's saying more than a lot of bigger universities who haven't even made a trip to it (Northwestern, etc)

  12. #12
    The Optimistic Asshole
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    They knocked off the preseason #1 team (Kentucky) in the NIT tournament.

    Robert Morris forever has a place in my heart.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Outlaw View Post
    College you've never heard of offering scholarships to play video games? Sounds legit.
    watch more march madness bro

  14. #14
    THIS IS BREGOR'S STORY
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    Needs more pictures of professional gaming "athletes":





    There we go.

  15. #15

    They is swole nigga they must work out a lot

  16. #16

    Pure athletes

  17. #17
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    finally a sport whites and asians can dominate that isn't chess

  18. #18

    Whites have lacrosse too

  19. #19
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    yeah but we stole that from the native americans like everything else they had

  20. #20

    Loool

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