Who says college sports scholarships are just limited to ball games and traditional sports? Illinois College just broke that belief by offering scholarships to students who can play video games.
This coming fall, Illinois College in Jacksonville will be offering scholarships to soon-to-be college student to play video games, Herald & Review reported. That is because of the increase in popularity by esports. More colleges and universities create their own teams for competitions as the prizes continue to grow.
According to Fox 32, the college even hired a coach Christian Matlock to lead two teams. Matlock took up sports management when he was in college and learned that esports also has similar discipline and decision-making as other activities. While most people perceive as something that is purely a source of just entertainment, he said that life skills are also applicable in gaming, which he thinks is a developmental tool.
There are a dozen of schools which will participate in the video games competition, and among these schools are Robert Morris University in Chicago and Maryville University in Missouri.
Matlock also added that people have the misconception that those who are into playing video games are lazy people and that they lack motivation. He said that he met people, top players in fact, who are just equally competitive and disciplined to their fields or crafts, just like any other athletes in their sports.
Collegiate Starleague is an organized league where participants get the chance to win additional prizes and scholarships.
Illinois College is just one of the colleges that offer scholarships for teams who are playing video games. The scholarship amount has not been finalized yet, according to Matlock, but he said that they have been getting overwhelming feedback from those who are highly interested.
