Sleepy Gang, a Rainbow Six Siege student mix team, won the recent Badass University All Stars (BUAL) tournament at the University of Roehampton.
The BUAL brought together student esports athletes from 35 UK universities. Its first live LAN event took place from December 4th to 5th 2021 at the University of Roehampton’s esports arena and was streamed at https://twitch.tv/badass_gg.
The Rainbow Six Siege tournament allowed students from different universities to form mix teams and compete against each other, as opposed to other tournaments like NUEL and NSE where students represent the university they study at.
For example, Sleepy Gang had players from Manchester Met, Staffordshire, Swansea, Luges and Sheffield universities. They won £750 in prize money and each received a HyperX headset.
Kairo, a commentator and player for BUAL, said: “BUAL has a special place in my heart. Becoming organically invested in the league, as well as working with some of the best up and coming production talent, has grown me as a caster.
“I’ve seen first-hand the community that BUAL has created away from the league – most of these people wouldn’t be friends or playing together if it wasn’t for the league. It is completely unique from the other leagues and, in my opinion, the best university league in the UK.”
BUAL’s top prize for the players in the league is £1,200. Within the last year, BUAL said it’s supported more than 100 students with paid experience and training across different areas of esports, such as production, casting and observing.
The University of Roehampton offers esports scholarships, including a women in esports scholarship, and Roehampton recently teamed up with NLC League of Legends side Singularity.
32 scholars are now enrolled at Roehampton take part in weekly competition, and also receive opportunities to earn cash.
Dicta, a player for BUAL, added: “I have now taken part in all three seasons of BUAL and I’ve found it to be a super accepting environment, both as a general player and also as a trans person. Furthermore, it’s given me a unique opportunity to meet players from other universities with who I’ve become friends, that I would never have otherwise met.
“Overall, it’s been a really fun experience which has improved me as a player and I would recommend it to any Rainbow Six Siege player at university.”
The BUAL was founded in November 2020 by Bradley Beal, a student from the University of Roehampton. BUAL is supported by games agency Badass Studios, which was founded by Ben Douglas and Alex Sangwin-Skillen.
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.
