English Football League Championship club Rotherham United have announced a new initiative to improve people’s wellbeing through esports.
The football club have received a grant from the National Lottery Awards For All charity to open an esports school, focusing on FIFA.
Esports Insider reports that the gaming offering is aimed at tackling physical and mental health problems during the ongoing Covid-19 situation, with most people finding themselves stuck at home during the national lockdowns.
Rotherham’s initiative aims to help improve young people’s social skills and counter the effects of loneliness. It will include FIFA coaching and gaming sessions.
“As we work with the Rotherham United Community Sports Trust, who already do so much to improve the wellbeing of many of their participants, we’re well aware of the impact a project like this can have.”
Robert Hawden, Rotherham United Esports
Last year, Rotherham United Sports College launched a separate esports academy, running alongside its sports studies, including qualifications such as a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sports Performance and Excellence or NCFE Level 2 Diploma in Sport.
Students are able to learn about esports business, marketing and more.
On the new esports school, Robert Hawden, Rotherham United Esports co-founder, said: “When we started this journey over two years ago, we never knew what we would find when scratching the surface. We found that a fair percentage of our participants had issues with health, whether it was physical health problems such as obesity, or mental-health issues such as depression and anxiety.
“As we work with the Rotherham United Community Sports Trust, who already do so much to improve the wellbeing of many of their participants, we’re well aware of the impact a project like this can have.
“With the help of sponsors and grant funding, we will be able to ramp up our reach and offer esports coaching and other brilliant opportunities to many others who we may not have otherwise reached.”
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.
