Students of Leicester will know all too well the rivalry between De Montfort and Leicester universities.
On March 11th this will take on a whole new angle with the first Derby Series event, organised by Varsity Games and ESL UK, pitting them against one another. 
The event will give students in the city of Leicester an opportunity to battle it out in League Of Legends. Notably, by way of making it an ‘educational crossover event’ it will also see eighteen students operating all of the staff and broadcast talent positions. This’ll be everything from Producer to Desk Host.
As such the Derby Series will give students the chance to see what an esports career could look like for them.
Rob Black, of ESL UK, stated: “We’re really excited to be involved in helping to facilitate, not just the next generation of Esports players from the UK, but also the next generation of Esports industry professionals. Being able to do that while supporting students in our local Leicester community makes this one of the highlights of our year so far.”
Amy Yu, Managing Director for Varsity Games, commented: “There’s growing enthusiasm for gaming within UK universities – and the mission of Varsity Games is to provide an authentic grassroots platform to recognise and reward student players competing to represent their universities. Our Derby series aims to bring local tournaments to regional university teams and we are excited to be kicking off the first event at the ESL studio!”
Esports Insider says: The UK, and esports in general, badly needs more opportunities like this to give students a chance to try out viable esports careers in a professional setting. Kudos to ESL UK and Varsity Games.