First UK esports scholar graduates with first class law degree, hopes to create an all-female LoL team

The first person to receive an esports scholarship in the UK, Julia Cwierz, has graduated from the University of Roehampton with a first class degree in law.

She has graduated with recognition as the top performing graduate on her course. And while the 21-year-old will now train to become a solicitor and study LLM Legal Practice in September, she has not ruled out a future in esports.

Julia explained: “Looking ahead, I am primarily focusing on my legal career but by no means am I ruling out the esports path. After finishing my LPC I will most likely have at least a year off, due to the training contracts starting dates, when I would like to get more engaged in esports.
“Something I feel strongly about is female representation in esports. Currently there are no women in the top League of Legends esports teams even though 45% of people who play games are women. I am currently involved in an initiative in the works to create an all-female team and I’m excited to see where that leads.”

After starting to game online at the age of 13, Julia soon found League of Legends and began to compete in esports.

“Something I feel strongly about is female representation in esports. I am currently involved in an initiative in the works to create an all-female team and I’m excited to see where that leads.”
Julia Cwierz

The jungler has risen to Diamond elo over the past few years. She became team captain for the first official League of Legends team at the University of Roehampton and went on to compete in the NUEL university competition twice.

This, together with her strong academic performance, led her to receive the first esports scholarship from the University of Roehampton, the first of its kind across the UK.

Julia also received the Oxford University Press Law Prize, given to the highest overall performer for the year’s Law cohort at the University. Other achievements include an appearance at the very first VidCon in London, the world’s largest video game industry conference, where she was a part of an industry panel focused on the topic of profiting from esports.

Julia added: “I am excited for the next stage of my studies after an amazing experience at the University of Roehampton.

“Competing in esports whilst studying an intensive course like law was challenging due to the additional extracurricular activities I have engaged in such as volunteering and professional experience, but I wouldn’t have changed anything.”

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.