Collegiate Esports Organizations as a starting point

Collegiate Esports, a growing trend across many universities in the form of student-led organizations. This past year we saw Heroes of the Dorm and the League of Legends North American Collegiate Championship, and a few other collegiate tournaments. Similarly to traditional sports, esports has the opportunity to have a unique grassroots foundation by giving students the opportunity to be involved with esports while attending a university and pursuing their degree.

Collegiate Esports Organization give a great introduction to what it takes to run an actual esports organization, without the financial commitment that would normally be acquainted with player salaries and larger expenses. If there isn’t an Esports club at your university, then it might be time for you to start one!

So what are the advantages of being a part of a Collegiate Esports Club and even more importantly being actively involved.

The Experience

With the industry starting to gain more structure , having experience in esports is a key source of success for both businesses and organizations. Employers are looking for more than a degree to be a successful part of their company. Joining a collegiate esports organization is more than just for fun, if you look to take your career into esports. Esports clubs offer several different positions that can give you the edge.

Your club normally will have a structure of a President, Vice President, Financial officer, Secretary, and an amount of committees to perform tasks that create events, social activities, and more. This is your opportunity to gain experience in esports.

Learning

If you are joining an established collegiate esports club, then look to find a senior to be your mentor. Its crucial to learn from a past leader who experienced their own hardship and success to see how you can help the club innovate new ideas to be a crucial part of your universities esports culture.

What are a few things you can learn?

1) You get to learn how to be a leader, which in esports is crucial to becoming an identity, or to showing that you can be apart of the growing esports industry. Leaders in esports are able to adapt to the changing scene year after year to find a competitive edge.

2) You get to be hands on with learning how to organize events such as LAN’s for your university, online and offline tournaments, and even social viewing parties for professional matches. Understanding how to organize events is a skill set that is good to have depending on what section of esports you want to go into. Its great if you look to join a tournament organizer or a company that deals directly around event organizing for esports.

3) You have the unique opportunity to network with crucial persons in the industry. Your club will look to make connections with other universities in your region to collaborate on tournaments and LAN’s. Most clubs look to gain sponsorship from companies to provide prizes to students, so you get to reach out to companies and negotiate the relationship. Knowing how to talk professionally in these relationships, is a skill that will be valuable no matter where you in your career.

4) Now, if you look to be a player, caster, manager, coach, analyst, or in a position that is not “behind the scenes” this is your chance to show your dominance and skill directly to your region and hopefully get noticed! If your club doesn’t have a competitive team or caster committee, then start one! It will give you the chance to show your passion for your school, and future employers who look for that entrepreneurial spirit and drive

Evaluating

Esports takes a lot of self-motivation to work in, yes it's fun to take your hobby and turn it into your career, but its not right for everyone. The amount of hours that you will put into your club can be intense. If you are looking to start your own organization or esports business, using your connections at your university to validate your concept is a great starting tool. Its also a great place to recruit early adopters to volunteer or join your company.

Now being fully involved in your esports club like mentioned above isn’t for everyone, but its a great chance to see the potential that you may have to make an impact. You won’t lose much if you give it your all, as the knowledge and skills you learn will be more valuable in your future career even if you fail.

You are there for school, it comes first, be honest with other members about needing help. Always ask for help!

Originally published at www.esportsentrepreneur.com on June 14, 2015.