Barnsley College partners with Grassroots Sports Academy

Barnsley College has partnered with Grassroots Sports Academy to create over 100 work experience placements and job opportunities within esports.

The work experience will take place at Grassroots Sports Academy-run sports and esports clubs within primary schools and community clubs.

According to the Barnsley College article, the partnership will not only give work experience opportunities and career pathways to its students but also provide benefits for “the children of Barnsley”.

The initiative aims to have students learn employability skills through running activity-driven camps and groups. Six Barnsley College students are already employed at Grassroots Sports Academy where they have gained experience and skills in the esports industry.

Grassroots Sports Academy is an established community brand in Barnsley, Yorkshire and offers a variety of services. Young people can sign up for football, dodgeball and other sports activities whilst adults can book the company for corporate and team-building days.

Chris Newton, Managing Director at Grassroots Sports Academy, commented on the announcement: “I’m delighted to announce that we have secured a partnership with the College, that will see the esports industry grow exponentially in Yorkshire.

“We have seen a gap in the market around 18 months ago for an Esports division and felt the time was right to start pushing this, we have been working away and getting stuff in place to launch this correctly. We then got introduced to the College’s Esports team to which we have now created and delivered a joint venture for Barnsley’s first Esports event at the Metrodome which as a first event was great.”

This is not the first step into esports that Barnsley College has taken. In January 2023, the college partnered with Barnsley FC to organise esports tournaments and field a FIFA team. The overall aim of this partnership for Barnsley College is to make sure its students leave education with employability skills and hands-on experience on a CV that will impress employers.