WKU Varsity eSports: Recruting Players + Offers Degrees and Training for Multiple eSports Careers

Western Kentucky University – The Spirit Makes the Master

In May of this year, Western Kentucky University became the 2nd public university in the country to establish a varsity eSports program. WKU offers players with the desire and the drive to reach the professional level with the structure, coaching, facilities, equipment, and support they need to reach their goals. Not only does WKU eSports prepare our players for transition to the next level of competition, players are also provided with an excellent education which will serve them for life. Read more about playing for WKU eSports, and find the link to our player recruitment form below!

At WKU, we do not just want to be the best school for players to prepare for a career as a professional eSports athlete. Our goal is to be the best school at preparing students for many careers in the eSports industry, such as: broadcasters (shoutcasters, analysts, and color commentators), journalists and/or bloggers, coaches, sports psychologists, social media managers, and more!

Nowadays, it is not enough to graduate with a degree; employers are also looking for experience. While earning a degree in your field of choice, students will have the opportunity to get hands on experience in the niche industry of eSports. By joining the eSports program in one of the non-player roles, students will get the chance to work on projects for the program that they will be able to collect into a portfolio of experience. The portfolios, the resumes of experience working at the collegiate level, and the recommendations from eSports program faculty, give our graduates a huge leg up on their competition.

By joining the eSports program as a broadcasting student, you will have the chance to be one of the faces and voices of WKU eSports on game-days on our partnered Twitch TV channel, and on the planned weekly SportsCenter-like eSports show which students will host. The School of Journalism and Broadcasting has excellent facilities for students to create content. Those enrolled in coaching or sports psychology will have the opportunity to join the eSports program as student assistant coaches. Social media marketing students assist in the management of the social media outlets we use, and the journalism students create written content for the website and social media teams.

PLAYERS - Whether your next goal is to join a Challenger team or to be recruited by a professional eSports team, WKU is committed to preparing our players for the next level of competition. We provide our players with facilities for practice and competition, a coaching staff, brand new Alienware PCs and accessories from top brands (headsets, mice, keyboards, webcams, chairs, etc). Players will receive team apparel including professional quality competition jerseys. In addition to coaching, equipment and facilities, WKU will also work to support all of our players who wish to reach the professional level by helping our players create and market their personal brand. We take extra steps to ensure our players have a smooth transition to the next level of competition.

We are recruiting for the start of the 2017 school year (Fall Semester). The selection process does not rely on rank alone; however, rank is a major indicator that we take into consideration. Since we are recruiting players that are serious about a professional career, we expect applicants to be ranked Diamond/Platinum/Challenger --unless there are mitigating circumstances. We are prepared to work with international students who may have some language barriers.

In fact, our top team is quite diverse. The roster includes players from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, Chile, Germany, and the US. We even have the rare female student in our starting lineup. WKU is a welcoming environment and is committed to promoting acceptance, providing support, and encouraging diversity in both the student and faculty bodies. The University’s dedication and persistence in this effort is an institutional priority.

Player Recruitment Form: https://wku.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0OqUiJkK11c26mV Lastly, WKU has many scholarships available for students, including those in the eSports program. Be sure to check out our academic programs and our BEAUTIFUL campus!

If you have questions or to find out more information regarding becoming a player, or earning a degree while interning as: assistant coach, broadcaster, journalist, or social media marketer for the WKU eSports program, please email: [email protected]