TerryP
Staff
Robert Morris University Illinois' newest athletic team will be treated like every other at the school.
Athletes will be offered scholarships, uniforms, post-game meals and a facility where they can practice. They also will be expected to attend team meetings, play at a competitive level and keep their grades up.
The only difference is the arena they play in doesn’t physically exist.
That’s the concept for what the university is calling a first-of-its-kind scholarship program for eGaming, where this fall, the school’s athletic program hopes to build a “League of Legends” team for competitive play. The role playing/real-time strategy fantasy game boasts 67 million players per month, according to Riot Games, one of its publishers. Also according to Riot, Robert Morris will be the first school in the country to offer a collegiate-level athletic scholarship for competitive gaming.
“It came to me while I was looking up a game I used to play a while ago, ‘StarCraft,’ ” Robert Morris Associate Athletic Director and eSport Program Director Kurt Melcher said. “It led me to ‘League of Legends,’ and I was shocked at the scope and how many people are playing this game.”
Read more at http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/l...-20140619,0,6385184.story#LVpHksqLPoTduQpl.99
Athletes will be offered scholarships, uniforms, post-game meals and a facility where they can practice. They also will be expected to attend team meetings, play at a competitive level and keep their grades up.
The only difference is the arena they play in doesn’t physically exist.
That’s the concept for what the university is calling a first-of-its-kind scholarship program for eGaming, where this fall, the school’s athletic program hopes to build a “League of Legends” team for competitive play. The role playing/real-time strategy fantasy game boasts 67 million players per month, according to Riot Games, one of its publishers. Also according to Riot, Robert Morris will be the first school in the country to offer a collegiate-level athletic scholarship for competitive gaming.
“It came to me while I was looking up a game I used to play a while ago, ‘StarCraft,’ ” Robert Morris Associate Athletic Director and eSport Program Director Kurt Melcher said. “It led me to ‘League of Legends,’ and I was shocked at the scope and how many people are playing this game.”
Read more at http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/l...-20140619,0,6385184.story#LVpHksqLPoTduQpl.99
