The Region of Murcia enters the world of esports with UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, which becomes the only university in Europe that has a professional club of electronic sports. UCAM Esports Club was officially presented at Los Jerónimos Campus by showing its special character as a university team, without hiding the desire to face this first season in the Professional Video Games League (LVP) and to win everything. For this début, the team that will play in the competition of ‘League of Legends’, the most important video game in the sports field, has been presented.

José Luis Mendoza, president of UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, welcomed this new club that enters the sports family of UCAM by stressing “the great opportunity that the players have to balance their studies with their training and competitions”. Mendoza recognised that “sports are increasingly growing and for this reason, in this University, we already gave them the importance they deserve with the creation of a chair that is carrying out important researches in the field of psychology and nutrition among others".

After the presentation, a visit was made to the ‘Gaming House’, the headquarters of UCAM Esports, where the members of the club coexist. It is a home near to Los Jerónimos Campus which is completely prepared and equipped by the University so that players can train, compete and study; they all received scholarships and tutoring so they don't put aside their academic training.

Marco Mourau, manager of the club, recognised that the work carried out previously by UCAM made the arrival of the professional structure in the University easier: “We are nourishing ourselves with the work that has been done through the chair to make a unique project in Europe. We will compete at a national level in professional, amateur and university leagues, thus opening doors so that UCAM students can practice with us”.

Cristian ‘Future’ Duarte is the trainer of the ‘League of Legends’ team and he was looking forward to embark on this new adventure: “I already knew the name of UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia due to my handball experience. At that time, I had to abandon my studies and for that reason this opportunity raised no doubt in me, because it allows me to balance my job as a trainer with my education. We are going to compete in the LVP (Professional Video Games Leagues), which is the most important league in Europe, and although the project has just started, we are ambitious and we want to fight for the league”.

Tiago ‘Aziado’ Correia is the captain of the ‘LoL’ team and he has been the spokesman for the players to highlight the importance of the bet of an institution like UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia: “I want to thank UCAM and the president for this bet that, according to me, is amazing. We are a great group and we are going to compete to be in the first positions of the league”. Aziado (top) belongs to the professional staff, which includes Mark ‘Markoon’ van Woensel (Jungler), Joao Miguel ‘Baca’ Novais Bigas (Mid Lane), Rafael ‘Rafitta’ Ayllón (Top Lane) and Pedro ‘Plasma’ Simoes Ribeiro (Support).

A project with a university seal

UCAM’s project in the world of electronic sports was born with the creation of the Chair of Esports that, ever since its creation, focused beyond competition, by working in purely university fields such as training and research.

With regard to teaching, UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia proposes, in its educational offer, various courses focused on technical and tactical training and on the management of esports teams. In the field of research, a lot of works have been carried out in fields such as nutrition, physical preparation, health, physical therapy or psychology.