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| Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB) heroes will take centerstage on the start of the Collegiate Center for eSports (CCE)'s inaugural regular season. (Image Source: Manila Standard/MOONTON Games) |
The Collegiate Center for eSports (CCE) is back with a bang, paving the big stage and bright lights to a new wave of student-athletes in a steady drive to advance the eSports cause on and off the virtual arenas. Months after a successful exhibition tournament featuring some of the country’s varsity basketball players, CCE is giving the spotlight on ordinary students aspiring to find their niche in the eSports world after its official launch.
The regular season-by-season calendar rolls off in June headlined by the same cast of 10 established universities and colleges in the country. These are San Beda University, Arellano University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, Mapua University, Jose Rizal University, San Sebastian College-Recoletos, University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, Emilio Aguinaldo College and Lyceum of the Philippines University which ruled the inaugural CCE Mobile Legends: Bang Bang 5-on-5 Varsity Cup (MVC) late last year. All teams vow to go all-out in an expected tightrope duel for the official first crown of CCE with Galaxy Racer as its official partner.
“Following the successful launch of CCE last year, we anticipate an even better showing this year among our partner schools. We expect a more exciting and fiery competition paired with the continuous excellence, sportsmanship, values, and camaraderie among all our players as the foundations of our organization,” said CCE commissioner Waiyip Chong. “Expect CCE to catapult and soar into new heights starting in our first official season. And with Galaxy Racer behind, we see a meteoric rise and improvement all for the advancement of the eSports cause in the country. It’s a massive partnership that would only lead to stronger ties and nobler cause for Philippine eSports, especially in the collegiate ranks,” said CCE president Stanley Lao.
Galaxy Racer, one of the leading and largest eSports, gaming, and lifestyle organization in the world today, shares the pleasure and honor to join hands with CCE for the Filipino sports community. “CCE has opened an opportunity that everybody has been waiting for. Everyone is looking forward to it, especially our collegiate athletes in a league among established collegiate institutions. This is very exciting not just for us but for the entire eSports community. It’s an easy opener for us to partner with CCE,” said Galaxy Racer Philippines country manager Marcia Guillermo. Aside from CCE’s bid to promote eSports, it has also created a bridge between the gaming world and the academe with eSports courses and programs already in place since the pandemic to provide platforms and future opportunities for student-athletes desiring to make it a career for good.
Represented by sports project head and coach Ana Dulce Yango, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in partnership with CCE, for its part, has started venturing into the booming discipline with the launch of Friendship Games on May 20 featuring eSports as one its events. It will then pave the way for the bigger National Tertiary Games already in the works which include eSports as well. But the biggest vision is for the country’s national sporting cause especially with eSports rising as one of official medal events in the international scene. “We have experienced and saw (the eSports rise) during the pandemic and even in the Southeast Asian Games. We envision the students, not just athletes but for regular students, to be involved in such opportunities,” said Arellano University athletic director Peter Cayco.
