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Nurturing young eSports talent

29 Apr 2020

 
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HKBU launched the eSports Talent Development Programme to provide students with insights into the eSports sector, supporting those who aspire to venture into the world of eSports.
Students engaged in workshops related to eSports tournaments, particularly on aspects such as event and competition management, marketing and sponsorship, and casting and commentating.
Participating students took part in a training session at a professional eSports company.
At the VIP match of the HKBU FIFA20 Tournament, Dr Albert Chau, Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) (back row, fourth from the left), Professor Arthur Mak, Associate Vice-President (Student Experience) (back row, fifth from the left), and Professor Chung Pak-kwong, Associate Dean (Development) of the Faculty of Social Sciences (back row, first from the left), teamed up with students to compete in the games.

 

The eSports industry has grown tremendously in recent years. Designed to support HKBU students who aspire to venture into the world of eSports, the University’s Career Centre launched the eSports Talent Development Programme (ETDP) last November to provide students with insights into the eSports sector. Participating students engaged in a series of eSports training sessions, and organised the first-ever HKBU FIFA20 Tournament in April. Over 120 members of the HKBU community took part in the competition.

 

An emerging global sector, eSports have undergone great economic growth. To nurture eSports talent for Hong Kong, the ETDP curated a variety of seminars, career consultations and interviews, as well as workshops on eSports tournaments. This gave students an in-depth and thorough understanding of various aspects of this booming industry, as well as the knowledge and skills to run eSports activities.

 

Upon completion of training workshops related to event and competition management, marketing and sponsorship, as well as eSports casting and commentating, 18 students formed a team to organise the HKBU FIFA20 Tournament. Guided by eSports consultants, the team took on different components of the tournament, ranging from event planning, match scheduling and copyright applications to marketing, event sponsorship and commentating.

 

The HKBU FIFA20 Tournament revolved around the well-known football video game, and it drew applications from a total of 127 HKBU students, alumni and staff members. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the tournament could not be held in a professional eSports venue as planned. Responding creatively to the setback, the organising team arranged more than 200 matches online within the space of a week, and interacted virtually with the live audience. At the VIP match of the tournament, Dr Albert Chau, Vice-President (Teaching and Learning), Professor Arthur Mak, Associate Vice-President (Student Experience), and Professor Chung Pak-kwong, Associate Dean (Development) of the Faculty of Social Sciences, teamed up with students to compete in the games. This brought the competition to the attention of the HKBU community and also fostered connections between HKBU faculty and students during the pandemic.

 

The HKBU FIFA20 Tournament is streamed on social media at the end of April and in early May. Please click here for more details.

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