Club President Hieu Le gets help with a raffle from Pokemon Eevee during the Nevada Esports Education League night at the HyperX Arena inside the Luxor Monday, Sept. 26, 2022.
Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Hieu Le developed a passion for hosting video game competitions after helping organize a tournament for Clark County School District students.
His experience led him to create the Nevada Esports Education League at UNLV with the help of club members like Richard Truong, who recently took on a coaching role.
Approaching Truong in late 2019, Le pitched his idea for a club to “tailor events to the community” and generate more interest in esports.
“Esports is a burgeoning field,” and the club helps provide entry-level competitions for people interested in getting into esports, Truong said.
The Nevada Esports Education League almost immediately faced obstacles in early 2020 at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, Truong said.
Club activities had to follow state and county guidelines for COVID safety, so outdoor events – like a Pokemon Go park cleanup – and virtual gatherings through Discord were common.
Le said the club has also hosted online fundraisers, collecting more than $5,000 for mental health organizations and COVID-19 relief.
Shantell Labajo, who works with the club, is involved with community outreach and helping provide “insight” into the industry.
She got her start in esports through a job at a former Gameworks entertainment center and has used what she learned managing the gaming floor to help promote the club.
“One of the main goals of the Nevada Esports Education League is to educate and empower students through esports, or even things that are associated with it, like video game design, streaming, coding, broadcasting and computer skills,” Labajo said.
“I just feel like being able to know how esports connects to any viable college career out there – especially at UNLV – paves the way for people to be more interested in getting into a career that they want,” she said.
The Nevada Esports Education League partners with UNLV’s esports team, Rebel Gaming, to host events geared toward students.
Le said the club also helped push for a bill last year to establish a regulatory body for esports events in Nevada.
This year, the club is honing its focus its “pipeline” —programs they hold for high-school students, Truong said.
“We’re still gonna have programs for college, especially incoming high schoolers going into college,” Truong said. “We want to start filling in that hole for high schools.”
Truong said the club might be able to crate a circuit for high school students to compete for scholarship money.
The Nevada Esports Education League has about 120 members and is seeking to grow, Le said.
“We are … proud of being the spearheads of esports and pushing the progressive technology sector,” Le said.
