On Monday 1 August, we brought the qualifying rounds of the first-ever Commonwealth Esports Championships (CEC) to Nottingham. 134 competitors from 20 Commonwealth nations took part in a week-long series of matches, hoping to claim coveted spots at the CEC finals in Birmingham on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 August.
At the start of the week, qualifying players and their team managers set themselves up in their “GEF_house” accommodation at NTU’s City Campus. Our partners over at Nottingham Trent University and the University Partnerships Programme (UPP) worked hard to create an Olympic village feel for GEF_house, with a vibrant community space for athletes to train and socialise outside of the matches. We caught up with one competitor in particular, who was keen to praise the set-up:
“I really liked the community feel that has been created here. I’m the only competitor for Trinidad and Tobago and so I could have been feeling pretty isolated and bored this week, but I’ve had such a great time! On day one, we got to know each other over some pizza and before you know it, we were playing a great, big friendly match together and really bonded across teams. The Australian team have been my cheer squad today, and I’ll do the same for them tomorrow. I thought things would be super competitive, I didn’t think I’d make loads of new friends out of the experience.” – Qudduws Campbell, Trinidad and Tobago competitor
On Wednesday 3 August, players got stuck into the games, competing across e-football, multiplayer battle arena game, DOTA 2, and hybrid car racing – soccer game, Rocket League. Most of the action took place in our digital media hub, Confetti HQ, with crews of Confetti tech staff and students on work experience supporting GEF’s Esports Partner, FACEIT, in providing broadcasting and live streams.
The following day, we fired up the screens in Confetti X for a demonstration match of Rocket League, joined by a diverse range of competitors and journalists from across the participating Commonwealth nations. Our very own Notts TV also came down to capture footage of the many games playing out, and interviewed players for their coverage of the CEC; you can watch that here.
On Friday 5 August, our Chief Executive, Craig Chettle flew the Confetti flag at the prestigious Commonwealth Esports Forum in Birmingham. The Commonwealth Esports Forum invited the leading minds in esports, sport, business, technology, and academia to connect and share strategies that will help create a connected future for esports, and imagine new, exciting opportunities. As a former tour manager, sound engineer and music producer in his own right, to having steered Confetti from its humble beginnings, as a single recording studio with just 14 students, to what it is today, Craig’s ideas greatly benefitted the Forum’s “Youth Connected” panel discussion.
Following the conclusion of the CEC qualifiers, a team of Confetti students journeyed to Birmingham to support the grand finals – a truly unique opportunity to gain valuable work experience on a global stage.
They supported FACEIT’s crew as main production (Alex Calladine and Luca Saggiorato), runners (Rafael Barbosa and Rory Singer), admins (Gursangat Khala and Rahul Sunil), player managers (Joseph Thomas, Christian Glen, and Travis John), and photography (Rebecca Green).
Huge thank you to our fantastic crews for helping make this such a brilliant Commonwealth Esports Championships! 👏🏼👏🏼@FACEIT @FreyaSpiers @Veracityy_ @British_Esports @ICC_Birmingham #CEC2022 #worldconnected #CommonwealthSport pic.twitter.com/RKxjsVrtED
— Global Esports Federation (@GE_Federation) August 7, 2022
The Commonwealth Esports Championship was organised by the Global Esports Federation, and delivered with the aid of the British Esports Federation, and supporting players like ourselves. We were delighted to receive the Executive Board of the Global Esports Federation on a visit to campus, they shared a few words on the CEC and our partnership:
“This is a wonderful opportunity to get connected together, to make friends and to live in these most wonderful memories. We’ve had the most amazing time here, and are blown away by these incredible facilities. Thank you to Craig and his team, and to Nottingham Trent University for pulling out all of the stops for GEF house.”
Fun on social
Twitter has been aflutter with Commonwealth Esports Championships activity, with our students and marketing team getting in on the action. Catch up on what you missed here and check out a couple of the highlights below…
I've had an amazing time over the last week doing VT playout for the Commonwealth Esports Championships!
A massive thank you to @FACEIT for brining me on board for this, and I met so many amazing people throughout the event pic.twitter.com/5LRQKwnbDy
— Luca (@LucaSaggiora) August 9, 2022
Had a blast working at @Confetti_ICT for the Commonwealth Esports Championship this week! ✨ looking forward to seeing the finals live on the weekend 👀 #CEC2022 pic.twitter.com/mgDNIRgMR7
— Elizabeth✨🌸🌱HoneyBunArt (@HunBunArt) August 4, 2022
Wales and Australia battling it out on @RocketLeague in our brand new esports arena, Confetti X. #WorldConnected #esports @GE_Federation pic.twitter.com/LJI7Zk4jTM
— Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies (@Confetti_ICT) August 4, 2022
Are you interested in attending events and getting hands on experience as part of your studies? Book onto an Open Day to find out more about all the opportunities on offer here at Confetti.
