Acer and Acer for Education have teamed up with Drive Lounge Norwich to announce a free summer esports academy for children.
The academy will offer 500 youngsters aged 10-16 an opportunity to delve into the world of sim racing/motorsport esports.
The six-week program, running three mornings a week during the school holidays, will provide educational sessions, analytical workshops and hands-on practice in Drive Lounge’s racing simulators.
Participants will learn about the foundations of motorsport esports, including popular games, tournaments and potential career paths.
Sessions will delve into the physics of speed, forces, resistance and aerodynamics to optimise race performance, and will also cover braking and corning, tactics, fitness and agility, diet and wellbeing, streaming and more. Participants will also get to design their own livery for a car.
As part of the partnership with Acer, the academy will utilize Acer’s Predator Orion 3000 desktops, Nitro N50-600 desktops, and Predator Connect W6 mesh routers.
Sessions will run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 10am, or 10am to 11am, with room for 16 participants per session.
Drive Lounge also has an after-school curriculum too, a separate 12-week program.
Norwich has been home to a few other events in video games, what with the city recently hosting the Norwich Games Festival, and each year the Norwich Anime & Gaming Con also takes place.
British sim racer James Baldwin, who is on UK esports organisation Guild Esports’ ESL R1 roster, is also a brand ambassador for Drive Lounge:
Paul Bolton, CEO at Drive Lounge Norwich, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Acer and Acer for Education on this exciting initiative.
“Our goal is to empower young people to transform their passion into practical digital skills, opening doors to personal growth and potential career pathways through gaming and esports.”
Craig Booth, Regional General Manager at Acer, added: “As part of Acer’s commitment to STEM education, this collaboration with Drive Lounge offers a unique opportunity for young people to explore the exciting intersection of technology and motorsport.
“We are proud to support the next generation of esports enthusiasts.”
To learn more and reserve your place, visit the Drive Lounge Academy website
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.
