The University of California, Berkeley and Riot Games have entered a partnership to launch the inaugural League of Legends Intramural Esports League in Autumn of this year. Not only that, scholarships will be available for students of the university that compete on the Cal Esports League of Legends team.

This program will support the educational and professional development for its esports athletes, focusing on five values: community, competition, social responsibility, wellness, and lifelong learning.

Stephen Sutton, Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at UC Berkeley discussed the partnership: “We’re thrilled to partner with Riot Games, as our esports program has been gaining incredible momentum. Just last week, we announced we’re creating UC Berkeley’s first esports community center.

“We’re pleased to add another dimension through a new intramural league and scholarships. We’re looking forward to advancing the potential of our students and of collegiate esports with this partnership between Cal and an industry giant like Riot Games.”

Matt Birris, Lead of College League of Legends in North America also commented: “We’re excited by UC Berkeley’s holistic support for gaming, from the Cal Esports Community Center and Women In Gaming initiative, to scholarship and Intramural League of Legends programs. This program sets a standard for how a top university can use gaming to create a breadth of opportunities across its entire community.”

Just last week, University of California, Berkeley entered a partnership with NRG Esports and San Francisco Shock to launch a community center and multiple esports initiative on the campus of the university. Cal Esports, the official esports arm of UC Berkeley, houses over 90 collegiate students who compete in 10 esports teams. These teams represent UC Berkeley both nationally and internationally.

Esports Insider says: The growth of collegiate esports is really impressive, and with the implementation of scholarships, it’s becoming more and more sustainable for students to enter esports should they wish to. We’re really happy to see more and more support being offered to those who may want to enter the industry after their studies. It’s cool to see a university the stature of UC Berkeley integrating itself more in esports too, especially after the announcement of its partnership with NRG.