#TeamUniSA Profile: UniSA Esports Club

Alex Traeger

2020-04-17T16:57:42

The first UniSA Sport club to be profiled in our new series is the UniSA Esports Club. They are a relatively new club, providing opportunities for club members to be involved in competitive gaming. We had a chat with the UniSA Esports Club to learn more about the club, its members and how people can join.

What is Esports?

To put it simply, esports is the activity of competitive video gaming – and there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye.

How many current members do you have?

Officially, we're currently just shy of 50 members for this year. However, we have over 375 people who are part of our wider esports and gaming community online (including ex-students, staff, supporters and future members).

What events/competitions/activities has the club been involved in over the past 12 months?

We feature teams that play in a variety of titles such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, Rainbow Six: Siege, Dota 2 and Overwatch – among many others.
In the past twelve months, we’ve competed in UniSport Nationals for League of Legends (also known as the Oceanic University Cup, or OUC) as well as the AEL University Cup for a variety of titles. We’ve also participated in show matches for live events such as AVCon in 2019, and our club has sported (and supported) many individual members who compete in esports at semi-pro and professional levels.

Outline some of your club or club member achievements?

Traditionally, we’ve always been a strong contender in Counter-Strike in our AEL University Cup matches. Though our club may be smaller and younger than some of the bigger players on the East coast, we punch well above our weight, consistently featuring amongst the top finalists at the end of the semesterly-long competition since its inception in 2018.
Another great feat was at AVCon last year where the UniSA Esports Club took out first place in Rainbow Six: Siege, first and second place in Rocket League, as well as second and third place in Counter-Strike against Flinders University and the University of Adelaide.

How has your club adapted to being online in terms of engaging with your members– eg setting challenges etc?

For the most part, it’s business as usual for us. In fact, I would argue that things have been busier than ever. As more and more people are seeking out activities to do whilst at home or being unable to do their usual activities, many are turning to video games. The beauty of the UniSA Esports Club’s activities being mostly-online is that we haven’t had to adapt or restructure our usual schedule, apart from accommodating for the intake of new members - who we are always happy to welcome.
For the mental health of our members, it’s been great too that our members can very easily interact with other members at any time on our Discord server. It makes for a great place to find new people at the university to chat and play with and keeps everyone tightly knit.

What is your favourite part of being a UniSA Sport club member?

I’m really enjoying the support we receive from UniSA Sport and the University of South Australia, especially seeing how accepting the sporting faculty and other clubs have been towards esports as a recognised activity.
As for being a member of a UniSA Sport club, it’s been phenomenal to experience firsthand how much the club – and esports – has grown from humble beginnings. The community we host has people from many backgrounds, different age groups, interests and skill level each united under one banner for the love of gaming. It’s so great to meet new people every day and being a UniSA Sport Club Member has made for a great UniSA studying experience.

How can people join your club?

Our club has two membership options – Social and Competitive. To join the club, head to our UniSA Sport Club Page.
Our Competitive membership option is for those who wish to compete under the UniSA Esports banner and is intended for people who strive to improve their game and be the best. Members who hold a Competitive membership are encouraged to become part of a team and take part in training together and improve alongside each other.
Competitive Membership costs $10 for UniSA Students and $20 for Staff, Alumni and the general public. Standard UniSA Sport membership fees apply.
On the other hand, we have our Social membership. As we are aware and understand that there are those who still wish to play games, but only casually as opposed to competitively, we accommodate for that as well. Members who hold a social membership are encouraged to actively engage with our gaming community and are invited to participate in in-person club events.
Social Membership is free for UniSA Students, Staff, Alumni and the general public. Standard UniSA Sport membership fees apply. Social Members may upgrade to a Competitive Membership at any time throughout the calendar year.
Though not an official membership option, we have our Discord community. Discord is a text and voice-based application which we use for all internal club communications. Our Discord server is segmented into game-specific channels (for people who wish to directly communicate with others interested in a specific game) as well as general/themed channels – Think of it as a giant WhatsApp group for gamers.
The UniSA Esports Discord Community is free to join for anyone, though features and channels are limited for non-club members. To join our Discord Server, or check out the link on our webpage.

Esports Club images

Thanks Esports Club!

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