Australia is jumping on the esports wagon by offering scholarships to help support university students while aiding in their esports training. In 2019, the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane will be offering five students $10,000 scholarships in League of Legends.
The Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia will be offering five students $10,000 scholarships in League of Legends. (Photo courtesy of Josh Lefkowitz
Students who are awarded the scholarship will also qualify to play in the Oceanic Challenger Series with the QUT Tigers. The Tigers debuted last year and finished eighth out of the 14 teams that competed. The QUT is also the first Australian university to own an esports program while offering an on-campus gaming arena.
“The first step is to get an application in by November 16 for a 2019 QUT Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship for Elite Athletes. Those applicants will then battle it out on January 5 at the selection trials at our new QUT Esports Arena for a place on our five-member 2019 OCS team.” – Michael Trotter, the Queensland University of Technology Esports Co-Coordinator.
The QUT esports club was founded by Trotter and Dylan Poulus in 2016. Since then they have gone on to build the club to offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for aspiring esports athletes. Students who are looking to apply for the scholarship will have to follow a two-step competitive process. It only makes sense that a competitive scholarship will be decided by competition, right?
“The first step is to get an application in by November 16 for a 2019 QUT Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship for Elite Athletes. Those applicants will then battle it out on January 5 at the selection trials at our new QUT Esports Arena for a place on our five-member 2019 OCS team.” – Dylan Poulus, the Queensland University of Technology Esports Co-Coordinator.
Emily Rosemond, the coordinator of QUT Sport and Elite Athletes Program went on to explain that the program will be reworked to include esports and traditional sports. She said that they have “developed a new sports strategy in recent months that hinges on a high-performance approach” to sports and esports.
QUT is another recent example of collegiate esports booming into the spotlight. Aspiring competitive esports professionals are gaining more and more avenues to explore. Esports is certainly not that same as it was five years ago.
