Coleg y Cymoedd launches college gaming team

Coleg y Cymoedd has set up a new gaming team to provide learners with the opportunity to develop their skills and compete against other schools and colleges from across the country in national competitions.

Following the increasing popularity of gaming during the pandemic lockdowns, and with continually growing interest in related qualifications at the college, a dedicated gaming team, named the ‘Crusaders’, has been launched.

Based out of the college’s new gaming department in Aberdare, the team will be made up of learners currently studying at the campus.

They will take part in regular practice sessions and live streaming events, both at the college and from home, with plans to enter a variety of nationwide competitions and leagues once the team has grown including the British E-sports Champs – a series of competitive gaming challenges involving over 60 colleges from across the UK.

The opportunity will benefit learners that have a passion for gaming, helping them to improve their skills and take their interests to the next level.

The team is currently open to all learners at the Aberdare campus, with plans for it to be opened up to other campuses in the future to allow any learners with an interest in gaming to take part.

Steve Hunt, IT and Gaming lecturer at Coleg y Cymoedd, helped to develop, the team, which is currently made up of five learners who play online games together such as Valorant, FIFA and Fortnite. Looking ahead, Steve intends to expand the number of games covered by the team so that it will play a large range of different types in the future, both online and offline.

Steve said: “I decided to create the Crusaders team at Coleg y Cymoedd as I thought it could be something that all the campuses could get involved with, giving them an extracurricular activity to enjoy alongside their studies. With many gaming tournaments out there, there are a lot of exciting prospects for learners on the team. There is always room for expansion and so far, the learners are loving it!

“My hope is that this will become a centre of excellence for esports gaming and content creation, encompassing learners from all campuses. It will be a place for learners who are interested in esports to be supported, with the use of our gaming room as a training facility and through live streaming and broadcasting events.”

The Crusaders team will provide an additional learning experience for learners on the Level 3 Games Development and IT courses at Ystrad Mynach and Aberdare, which have seen a rise in learners. The course teaches learners how to come up with and develop games as well as how to present and pitch ideas. Learners develop skills that can be applied to real-world jobs such as professional gaming, game development, marketing, TV production, sponsorships and IT.

Learners on the team will wear jerseys featuring big name industry sponsors like, HyperX, Razorwire Energy, Buzz Sweets and the Gamers Beat Cancer charity. 

If you would like to get involved within the gaming team, please Stephen.Hunt@cymoedd.ac.uk

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