It takes a lot to break into the world of esports, but it can be incredibly rewarding. The University of California, Irvine (UCI) is helping its students do just that. They built a 3500 square-foot esports arena, backed by iBUYPOWER, Logitech and Gamefuel. UCI is no slouch in the collegiate esports scene, either. They have one of the most decorated teams in the League of Legends college scene and hold one of the first esports scholarship programs. That’s not enough though! Enter, Team SoloMid. I’m glad to see TSM getting out there to talk with esports fans at UCI.

Power Players Behind TSM

This wasn’t a talk about just being an ace player. Instead of simply having a few TSM players come to the talk, they had some of the significant TSM management share their thoughts, including Luke Zelon, director of sales; Allie Hahe, director of partnerships; and John Pondce, director of people operations.

It’s about more than merely being a good player. You must make yourself attractive to the teams you’re interested in joining. You don’t have to have a “gaming degree” to make it as an esports star either. Ponce pointed out you don’t have to have an esports degree to go far.

He mentioned his experience was in human resources. Not everyone in esports had an esports background. It’s essential to have a backup plan, and that’s where education comes into play. It’s not a promise of success and fame in esports. That’s why you need to have a degree in something relevant and exciting.

A would-be esports player can also use a variety of degrees to make their content and themselves appealing. It was interesting too that people across a variety of programs attended this lecture to see how they could go from interns to being members of huge esports organizations.

Carve Your Own Esports Path

Hahe had to make her own way into esports. The Midwest wasn’t brimming with esports opportunities, so she created her own opportunity. Nowadays, there are thousands of esports organizations, but it’s important to remember her advice anyway.

She was previously part of Team Liquid, so she has experience in the field and knows what she’s talking about. TSM’s helping the esports community in general, in addition to helping themselves with this talk. It will surely have eyes of UCI esports fans on TSM if they weren’t already.

Attending classes is all well and good, but that’s not always enough. Having organizations with as much name value as TSM showing up to talk esports is important. Team SoloMid could use this to scout potential positions for their team. So, they’re helping potential esports fans, while also helping themselves. Now that’s smart.

No one way’s guaranteed to get you into esports as a profession. Having a variety of skills can’t hurt, and there’s more to esports than just the gaming part. There are producers, coaches, directors and the various executives that run the show behind the scenes.

Other orgs could take a hint from TSM. Other organizations could go to major colleges and talk about what it takes to make it. Use it as a scouting system for more than just players, too! I feel like a lot of people that want to join esports think they must make a huge, international streaming audience to get there, but I don’t think that’s so.

I’d like to see more esports teams open internships to show a path in for students. Esports is the future of electronic entertainment. Joining orgs as big as Team SoloMid can help students become serious professionals.