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Gen International Varsity eSports Championship


2020-12-01

Box Hill Institute’s Sports and Recreation Management students have come together to organise an International Varsity eSports Championship (IVEC) event with their Global Education Network (GEN) partners: Kirkwood Community College (KCC) in the US, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Canada, and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in Singapore.

Due to the lack of opportunities for onsite industry work placements usually undertaken as part of their course, the students have taken the opportunity to extend their learning at an international level by developing a virtual eSports event through Twitch, playing Rocket League.

The students formed an event committee with Aaron Baxter as General Manager, Patrick Hall as Assistant Manager, Rebecca Roberts as Operations Manager, Emma Hayes as Finance Manager, and  Sam Barr as Social Media Manager. The students were required to engage with social media, IT, advertising, marketing materials, sponsorship, surveys and finance. They had to select a game with a strong global following, work out a competition schedule and decided to raise funds for Oxfam Australia.

The tournament is structured as a remote series, which students can participate in from their own homes and gaming setups. There’s a group stage and a finals stage and the results are being collated at https://www.twitch.tv/ivec_esports.

Each participant plays a minimum of four games in the group stages and the top four from each group stage will advance into the finals. The finals will be played in an elimination bracket format and an overall champion will receive an award.

eSport participants must be aged 18 or older and have access to a PlayStation console, Xbox One console or PC, with a current PlayStation Plus Membership or Xbox Live Membership or Steam account.

Box Hill Institute’s GEN coordinator, Jeanette Toull said, “The GEN program is about students engaging in global learning experiences that facilitate intercultural and international awareness through student exchanges with our GEN partners. This year has been different for GEN, focusing on new and exciting virtual exchange programs for our students and staff. 

“The first GEN IVEC tournament hosted by five Box Hill Institute’s Sports and Recreation Management students has engaged over 2,000 people internationally and created great camaraderie with the GEN students. It has displayed the key foundations for the future of GEN and IVEC virtual learning experiences for students,” she said.

Sport and Event Management teacher, Simon Carlile said, “This core group of students has developed a culture in the classroom that has been pivotal to all of their successes this year. As a teacher I have learnt as much from them, as hopefully they have from me. As an educator, this is the purest form of vocational education. We all learn from each other.

“We will never forget this year, the committee has left a legacy for Box Hill Institute and our partners organising at SAIT, ITE and KCC. I look forward to following their pathway into industry and further study,” he said.

The eSports championship was won by Brennan Koenig from SAIT. Congratulations Brennan!

The IVEC committee also managed to raise more than $1,000 for Oxfam. An excellent achievement.