Thunder Esports Academy Sparks to Life
Team Norse Thunder's Esports Academy sparked to life on Monday with 13 young people from across the West Midlands coming together to take their first steps into the industry.
The first day saw the cohort of new academy students get to know their tutors, meet Thunder staff, and explore the University of Birmingham's 'Exchange' building. They also shared their career aspirations, talked through their hopes for the program, and ideas for their next steps.
Developed in partnership with The Strive Group, the Esports Academy will support students through maths, English, and digital skills qualifications before they move onto hands-on esports work experience placements.
The work experience placements will see the academy students spend time with Team Norse Thunder as they try their hand at roles across marketing, production, management, admin, and more. All the skills developed during the placement will be evidenced in a portfolio of work which can be used to help secure a job in esports.
Speaking about the launch of the academy, Team Norse Thunder's Dave Scotford said: "There's so much talent across the Midlands that hasn't been tapped into, so many people who just haven't had someone believing in them, and so much support that's missing to help people get to the next step. Our Esports Academy is all about helping people ignite their spark.
"We'll be focused on supporting the group to help them develop the skills they need, working together to plan out the path they want to take in the industry, and then giving them the hands-on experience they need to help make it all happen. They're the next generation of people coming into the esports industry, so it's important that we get the support right.
"To say that the first day was a brilliant day is an understatement. It was great to have everyone at HQ, having a look around the building, and then getting stuck into things. We've been building towards getting something like this off the ground for a long while, so to see it happening is a great feeling. I can't wait to see how everyone gets on!"