Chichester University first year esports student Nic Lee and third year student Sebastian Landless pen their thoughts on the uni’s recent third-year student-run esports LAN events, including the Chi Challengers Valorant team (above, photo by Aisha Samson Taylor).
ChiChiChi Finals: University of Chichester students host Valorant LAN event
What started as a module in the third year’s esports BA course turned into an impressive display of passion and love for esports, reports Nic Lee, as the Chi Challengers played against the undefeated Portsmouth Paladins in the Bo3 final of online invitational ChiChiChi.
The event had a £450 prize pool paired with two glass trophies, a tub of gamer fuel and a HyperX keyboard.
It had been in the works since October 2023, planned, produced and streamed by a group of ten talented students. They struck impressive partnerships for the event, with AMD and Monster Energy having been secured by stage host Conor ‘Conny’ Albery and project manager Tal Murphy.
Other people on the team included Tim Jackman as vision mixer/fundraiser lead, Jacob Burgess as observer/caterer, Chris Melville as the video editor/runner, Jakub Mrowiński as tournament organiser/player manager, Chris Munro and Aarron Bailey as casters, Charlie Sewell as graphics lead and Aidan Shaw as technical director/vmix operator.
The team fundraised for the event in various ways: Jacob Burgess travelled to gyms in the South Coast to raise money by losing weight. Conor Albery ran the Bognor Prom walk 10k, and Tal Murphy streamed Call Of Duty on TikTok.
Prior to the LAN event, an online qualifier was held, including four teams across the South Coast of England: Portsmouth University, Southampton University, Plymouth University and the University of Reading. Portsmouth Paladins went undefeated throughout the event, winning the online qualifier and earning them a place at the ChiChiChi LAN finals to meet the Chi Challengers.
In terms of the esports teams in the final, both were full of talented high ranked players ranging from diamond to high Immortal, making for a riveting and unpredictable Bo3.
The Chi Challengers Valorant roster included Davide ‘VXEnfacy’ Scalia [IGL], Joseph ‘Kami’ Cooper, Shen Han ‘McKsh’ Khoo, Luke ‘Looqhie’ Juggins and Jake ‘ShaMie’ Jeynes.
The Portsmouth Paladins’ roster was Toby ‘Stormz’ Pearse [IGL], Max ‘Xam’ Wong [sub], Sheng ‘Sunny’ Chen [sub], Cain ‘Clarity’ Slevin [MVP] and Tom ‘Regret’ Bajnath.
What happened on the day?
The event took place on Wednesday May 15th 2024 at the Bognor Regis campus of Chichester University. The event was produced to a professional standard, at first delayed by some technical difficulties but it all was sorted within an hour of the event starting.
Event host Conor Albery, did a fantastic job at corralling the audience and keeping them entertained while waiting for the event to start, the production team worked meticulously to produce the event to the highest standard possible.
The event ended 2-1 in favour of Portsmouth Paladins, making them the undefeated winners of ChiChiChi 2024. By the end of the first map, which Chi Challengers won 13-8, the crowd were confident Chi would take the series.
But Portsmouth Paladins were not done – they reverse swept Chi Challengers, wiping the floor with them in map two and three and showing everyone why they went undefeated.
It was a truly outstanding performance from the Portsmouth Paladins. Tension was high between the two teams, and with both being coastal universities, there was a natural rivalry.
Having both placed second at different points in the NUEL/UK University Esports tournaments prior to this (Chi in 2022 and Portsmouth in Spring 2024), this was their chance to shine.
The event was a resounding success, all seats were filled and the viewers were on the edge of their seats.
So, what started as a module in these third year’s esports BA course turned into an impressive display of passion and love for esports, video games and the industry, giving the students the experience and understanding of what goes into creating events.
In an industry about networking, this event could be a remarkable kick-starter for this passionate group’s futures.
Watch the full 2024 ChiChiChi finals here:
Acknowledgments
The team at ChiChiChi would like to give special thanks to the Sports Media students who helped in their production, Lewis McKenzie, Alex Ray, Flynn Spanton, Ollie Turner. They would also like to thank the two people in charge of lighting, Josh Darke and Dan Welch, who “carried the event” according to stage host Conor ‘Conny’ Albery.
The Overwatch Southern Showdown: How a university student emerged into the world of esports events
Third-year student Sebastian Landless on what he learnt working as event manager and floor manager at the event, plus handling graphics and production for the big day.
How did I get here?
When the younger, much better-looking and much less confident Sebastian Landless (yours truly) discovered video games, his entire world changed.
It was an escape from the stress of school, from personal issues, and a way to become immersed in the hundreds of amazing worlds, environments and storylines that have been introduced in the always-developing space that is online entertainment.
Add to this the heart-pumping, passionate and competitive world of first-person shooters, and you are now not only immersed elsewhere, but fighting to be the best in the arena. Through this, I became thoroughly engrossed in esports. To see my childhood passion – video games – broadcast on some of the biggest stages in the world to bustling crowds (and busy online stream chats).
I found myself watching hour after hour of the best gamers competing to become champions in Call of Duty, Rainbow Six Siege and more. I wondered what it’d be like as one of those players, such as Pengu or Beaulo, when the pressure is on, the lights are on you, and the crowd is chanting your name.
I was by no means good enough to be on that stage, but the curiosity was always there, to go from playing in your room to being all-eyes-on-me in the arena.
As I got older and the prospect of university began to loom over me, I struggled to choose which career I wanted to find myself in. Would it be English, psychology, history, or drama-related? As I flitted between all of these choices, I came across the University of Chichester, a smaller university on the south coast which was offering an undergraduate course that I didn’t even know existed: esports.
It clicked with me, and I knew that my passion, my past-time, my escape, could become something more: a career. Working around video games felt like the right future for me, and so I went for it. I applied, and was accepted, and the next three years of my life were sealed. I couldn’t be more excited, nervous, unsure and a whole other cocktail of emotions, to get started.
Fast forward to the start of my third year, the final frontier before the world of work loomed ahead of me, just like university did prior. After carrying out an online event as part of my second-year coursework, we were presented with our biggest task yet as budding, young esports hopefuls. We were to carry out a professional, staged, one-day LAN event with sponsors, lighting plans, the whole shebang. I could not believe it, the curiosity to be a player had developed into the curiosity of being the person making all of that happen.
My amazing group of ten, me included, got to work instantly.
Developing the Overwatch Southern Showdown
First, we asked ourselves: What game would we choose? What would we call it? How would we theme it? But mainly, how the hell are we going to pull all of this off?
We then focused on organising our roles, and I was settled into my general manager and graphic and production design jobs.
The game chosen was Overwatch 2, and after much discussion, we titled our project ‘The Overwatch Southern Showdown’, a tropical, beach-themed tournament designed to be a friendly showcase of talent, providing students an opportunity to perform in the LAN environment, just as I had wanted to all those years ago.
I found myself learning to use complex production software such as vMix, as well as how to set up cameras and a stage floor through attending lectures held by the Sports Media course. I created a multitude of different graphics and overlays before settling on my final versions, and fed this through to the great team working with production on the day in order to make last changes.
When it came to my management role, as I mentioned, I was not a confident young man to say the least. This, therefore, was a big change that took some getting used to throughout our project. I gave out jobs, directions and orders to the team (not too aggressively I hope!), which, the majority of the time, went down well and helped our project proceed.
Keeping a group of ten on track and organised was a big challenge, and accommodating the work ethics and needs of each individual was paramount in ensuring work was completed at a comfortable pace. This was, of course, an infuriating role at times – chasing people up for certain jobs is not a fun experience, but one that is necessary in the completion of needed tasks. Despite this, I settled into this role with some practice, and developed a good relationship as a manager with each of my team members, hoping this built a respectful bond between us all.
Pre-day preparation
Like a parent trying to get their kids to school (something I’m sure my own parents do not miss doing), we sped ahead to our pre-day setup. Arriving bright and early at 7.45am (which, for anyone who doesn’t know, is an ungodly time to expect esports students to be awake), we got started.
Lighting was rigged, tables were set, PCs were cabled and the reality of what was going to happen set in. We were there, months in the making, and after one more sleep (cue Leona Lewis), all of our hard work was there for the world to see, and all we could do is hope that we had done enough.
After a 12-and-a-half-hour shift, we left the stages, ready for food, a drink, and a good rest before the big day.
For me, this pre-day was not only tiring, but extremely rewarding. Seeing everything come together like that, and being the management behind it all, filled me with extreme pride and a new perspective of myself, the shy, introverted Sebastian (despite still being there) had gone away and been replaced by a man I did not recognise: one who could build something as amazing as this, a leader whom the team listened to and respected, whilst keeping positive relationships throughout. To put it bluntly, I felt amazing in myself and this feeling will not be forgotten for a long time.
The time comes for the main event
Coming, finally then, to the day of the event, The Overwatch Southern Showdown, it was time to prove ourselves and showcase the skills we have learnt not just through this module, but throughout our entire esports university experience.
Final changes were made, technical errors corrected, lighting switched on, filling the room with our contrast of red and blue, with a spotlight that highlighted the prize, our amazing custom skateboard trophy.
It was time. Ushering in the staff, audience and our amazing guests, caster John ‘JoRoSaR’ Sargent, Sunjaya Phillips, the co-founder of our amazing partner, Project Harmony R6 Women’s League, and Dominic Sacco, the founder of Esports News UK (who I have the honour of writing this piece for, thank you so much for this opportunity, Dom), we prepared to begin.
We started off strong, with a custom-written remix of the Overwatch 2 theme, courtesy of Andrew Conradie from the Music Production course, setting the atmosphere and scene for what was to come. From here, our host Josh Graney entered the frame, introducing the event, welcoming our audience and sending us across to our commentary desk, featuring a green-screen overlay of a tiki bar in which our casters (William Durdin and Ruben Graca) resided.
From here, game one began between the Chichester Sharks and the Bognor Serpents teams. It was an absolute sweep, with the Bognor Serpents team easily taking the win and showcasing some high-level skill from our local student players.
Our amazing production staff showed their knowledge of professional production equipment and any issues were solved quickly and smoothly, and continued to be throughout the show. The team included audio director Frentson Lee, production manager Tom Warnock, observer Jakob Dallamore and stream manager Shen Han Khoo. We also had Lucas Ward as referee and health and safety manager, and Tyson Nyguyen who handled catering and running.
For myself, this first game made me realise the importance of a floor manager at an event like this. I got a good workout making sure everything was going well and relaying issues and information to my fellow staff, alongside keeping a positive and professional mindset to both my group and the great people who came to experience our hard work.
As the games continued, and the Bognor Serpents kept up the momentum (apart from one game, as the Chichester Sharks came back into a match right at the end, causing an eruption of hype from both the team and the audience), we settled into the experience. Apart from some mishaps here and there, we could relax a little more and just enjoy this culmination of our blood, sweat and tears (two of which were somewhat literal, guess which)!
Before we knew it, it was over. As quick as it had come, we had done it. Our host interviewed the winning team, the Serpents, and provided the best player, voted by our commentators, our coveted trophy, the engraved skateboard (or small surfboard if keeping to our tropical theming) and then, sign-off.
Check out this TikTok recap video of both events by Tom ‘Elit3’ Warnock here:
Appreciation and signing-off
It was surreal. A year worth of work, of stress, of anticipation, had come to an end. It was just as satisfying and fulfilling as I thought it would be. We received some amazing feedback from our audience, as well as in-depth notes from our guest visitors John and Dom, and our lecturers, Rams Singh and Lee Cumbers (both of whom I would like to thank for their guidance and understanding throughout my time here at the University of Chichester).
We packed down the stage and that was it. We could breathe again, we had accomplished something amazing and proven that our time here, and all that we had learnt, had been worth it.
I would like to finish this piece with a thank-you to my whole team who helped all of this come together, and the staff at the University of Chichester for guiding us to develop into the young graduate esports hopefuls that we are today.
To summarise, this was an amazing experience and opportunity, one I shall not forget for the rest of my life. I look forward to the future and what may come next, and who knows, maybe you’ll see me on stage someday.
