Pioneering courses in Esports are coming soon as College is named an official Esports Trailblazer Centre for the new Esports Leadership Programme.
Emily Blackburn, MidKent Head of Digital (Esports and IT), said: “We're thrilled and honoured that we have been chosen as one of the pioneering centres to design and deliver a range of innovative courses that will empower the young generation to become leaders in Esports.
“These courses will combine the latest research and best practices in leadership development, coaching strategy, management skills, and industry knowledge, and will equip the students with the confidence, competence, and creativity to excel in the fast-growing and dynamic field of Esports as well as transferable skills to take into their future careers.”
With the Esports market in the UK forecast to rise to £179m this year and growing on average by 8% a year since 2016, the Leadership Skills Foundation is leading education in what is a relatively new subject. Lucy Supperstone, Director of Innovation and Standards at the Leadership Skills Foundation said: “We are delighted to be working with MidKent College as a Trailblazer centre on the Environment Leaders Programme. Many young people are engaged in the world of esports and the vast number of employment opportunities connected to this subject are ever growing.
“This relatively new subject has highlighted the transferability of leadership skills and the ability of our programmes to support learners to develop these skills in new and exciting areas. Just like our traditional sports leadership programmes, the community-building and camaraderie found in esports is a great bedrock on which to build essential leadership skills.”
MidKent College will be offering new courses at Level 1 and 2 this year. Joe Tuley, lecturer in Esports, MidKent College said: “It will attract those who want to do Esports but also want to gain a qualification in leadership. It is different to the normal lessons that we've seen here at the College since Esports was launched here in 2021. We will be networking with different schools/Colleges in the local area to develop a strong network and promote Esports in Medway, Kent, and surrounding areas.
“The course will allow students who have a passion for Esports to develop their hobby that they love into something they can make a career out of. We inspire them to evolve from grassroots, amateur level to become professional gamers, streamers, or team managers in the future.”
Esports courses at MidKent have become increasingly popular and successful with students developing their teamwork and communication skills as well as working under pressure, solving problems, using strategic thinking, and competing at national levels. They work across different platform with industry standard broadcast technology. Their skills transfer widely into other careers. Students from Esports course have gone on to careers in coaching, sports science, broadcasting, technology, journalism, digital and software development as well as marketing and design.
