University of South Florida officiates esports program

The University of South Florida (USF) has launched its esports program across the university’s three campuses to allow students to connect and compete.

After operating in an unofficial capacity throughout the last year, the esports program has now been formalised under the Recreation and Wellness department at USF. As an official recreational program at the university, it will be eligible for resources and funding opportunities through the Student Government.

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Bart Stucker, Coordinator of Recreation and Wellness Programs at USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus, commented on the development in a release: “Esports is an opportunity for us to bridge and build a community of not only competitive gamers and casual gamers, but people who are just generally interested in video games.”

The esports program was planned to align with the university’s consolidation, which was slated for July 1st. The nature of which will bond the student force and administrators of all three campuses, “creating one large, cohesive team.”

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Just last month, USF had collaborated with Florida State University, University of Central Florida, and University of Florida to host the ‘Battle for Florida,’ a FIFA 20 tournament. The university says it will continue to work with other collegiate esports programs to develop and host tournaments in the future.

USF’s esports program will debut its new webpage later this month, serving as a centralised resource for all aspects of the program. This is said to include “year-round intramural schedules, student leadership opportunities, information regarding USF’s competitive teams, and details on how to get involved.”

Esports Insider says: It’s great to see scholastic esports grow, and especially with the likes of top-accredited American universities like the University of South Florida. The esports program has gone from inception to official in just around a year, so we do anticipate USF to grow this sector even faster under its consolidation.

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