Unofficial Ivy Esports Conference Aims to Bring Collegiate Esports Clubs Together
Collegiate esports is a growing trend, with some schools even offering scholarships now to talented players. But unlike traditional college sports, there is little in the way of organization and unity for collegiate esports clubs. This has inspired students from the eight Ivy League colleges to create the Ivy Esports Conference (IEC).
The IEC consists of clubs from Dartmouth College, Columbia University, Brown University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. Its goal is to “further institutional support,” though at present it is doing so with no official endorsement.
Student commissioner Willy Lee explained the need for the conference by pointing out that traditional sports involved local conferences, which in turn resulted in “collaborative communities,” whereas, “esports finds itself content with loose non-committal relationships on a global scale. This approach, while not necessarily wrong, is an inefficient use of clubs’ resources and ineffective at building meaningful communities.”
To start with, the IEC’s plans include an October tournament followed by ongoing tournaments for each future semester. Students will compete playing Overwatch, League of Legends, Hearthstone, and more—though the game for the October tournament has yet to be announced. The IEC also has not revealed a partner for broadcast.
It is exciting to see students paving the way for the continual growth of esports on college campuses, and great that esports are finally taking their place alongside traditional collegiate athletics.