According to a survey conducted by the statistics portal "Statista" in 2021, 58 percent of all respondents between the ages of 16 and 24 are interested in esports, a sporting competition involving computer games. Whether as true enthusiasts in the form of playing and watching online video games or as casual gamers, esports are of particular interest to the younger segments of the population.

Students at the Hochschule Niederrhein have now founded their own Esport team. "Niederrhein Esport" is the name of the team, which will participate in Esport competitions in the future. The university supports this idea and has incorporated the new offering directly into the university sports program.

And the response has been great: 130 members have already joined Discord, a special communication app for video game players that is considered a community meeting place. Nevertheless, the team around founder Sedat Dag would like to see more members and supporters. The student group has also designed its own logo - they chose the kingfisher, which is native to the gravel waters of the Lower Rhine, as their heraldic animal.

In the future, the individual teams of the Niederrhein Esport Team will compete in the Uniliga, which is aimed specifically at students. The Uniliga organizes Esport competitions for students, primarily from German universities. Gamers can compete in games such as League of Legends, CSGO, Rocket League, Valorant, Overwatch, Rainbow Six Siege and others. The offer is not exclusively aimed at competitive students, casual gamers can also drop by Discord to play together for fun.

Interested parties can get in contact via Discord with questions or email Niederrheinesport@gmail.com. Access to the Discord of the "Niederrhein Esport" team as well as links to the social media channels can be found in the link tree at linktr.ee/niederrheinesport.