Garena Student Alliance Officially Launched; Supporting and Empowering eSports Clubs and Students in Malaysian Universities

A support program aimed at growing the eSports clubs and talents in Malaysia at the university level, the Garena Student Alliance.

A few days ago, we reported that Riot Games will be doing a student ambassador program with regards to eSports and gaming, kicking off with a huge educational course at Asia Pacific University.

Looks like Garena is doing something different, yet with a similar goal in mind with the Garena Student Alliance. These 2 programs are not competing but in fact, they complement each other. Let’s take a look at what Garena has planned for the students of Malaysian universities.

Garena Student Alliance Officially Launched

At a launch event in Sunway University, Garena officially launched the Garena Student Alliance (GSA) program. It’s designed to support and empower university students in Malaysia to build structured and well-established eSports communities on campus.

These communities will be called “GSA eSports Clubs”, and they will be managed by dedicated GSA Leaders. What’s the benefit of a GSA eSports Club you ask? For starters, you can leverage on Garena’s support to run a diverse range of activities, from social activies to gaming industry talks. Yes, this includes on-campus eSports tournaments as well.

This is how Garena is willing to support the clubs in the Garena Student Alliance program:

• Guidance on building, establishing, and maintaining a GSA eSports Club
• Consultation and support for eSports tournaments
• In-game items and physical merchandise for club events and tournaments
• Exclusive rewards for active GSA Leaders

Just like how Riot Games is planning on grooming talents for the future, it’s the same case with the Garena Student Alliance with 3 key principles of the program; Education, Community, and eSports. This program will help students gain and master skills that would be helpful for their future careers whether it’s within the gaming industry or outside of it.

Justin Lye, Product Manager of Garena Malaysia, said:

There are 3 keys arms to the GSA program. The first is education. We aim to educate students about the multiple disciplines available in the industry. As you see today, a successful eSports event requires good behind-the-scenes planners, an ever-ready production crew, responsive stage managers, engaging shoutcasters, and emcees. Garena is committed towards sharing our experiences in these areas, and to help the next generation of eSports specialists.

Social skills, event management, leadership, budget management, marketing, critical thinking, and plenty more skills that are important in today’s world. While the program would be suitable for those who are passionate about gaming, eSports and otherwise, it’s also suitable for those who are looking to grow and expand their skill sets to jump start their career.

At the moment, there are 17 different universities and colleges that are now participating under the Garena Student Alliance program. The number is expected to increase as more eSports clubs are established in Malaysian universities.

Pokdepinion: Yet another program aimed at helping university students grow in the gaming industry. I sure wish I was still studying right about now. Either way, the Garena Student alliance program looks to be a solid effort by the company to help nurture our future talents, not just in the gaming industry, which will give them the edge after graduation.