The Humber Esports team was set to unveil its home kit for 2020 at its March 12 town hall meeting but the COVID-19 affected that plan.
In an announcement made by Geoffrey Lachapelle, the Humber Esports coordinator and game programming professor at Humber, members “under-the-weather” were asked not to attend the meeting.
Humber Esports had planned for the jerseys as it wanted to help create an identity for the team.
“It’s about player identities, what they post on their social media, their Twitch, “ Lachapelle said.
“Jerseys are more like a final piece to identity,” he said.
The Humber team has been trying to replicate standards that the professional teams follow. Team jerseys help create a unique identity for Humber Esports members on campus.
“It makes our players feel professional when they join one of our teams,” said Humber Esports student coordinator Kevin Tang.
“They see the big tournaments and see professionals wearing jerseys representing their team. We want our players to feel the same way,” he said.
The Humber team is not new to jerseys. The 2019 edition was made available free of cost to the team.
Usually sponsors help sports teams financially so athletes and teams wouldn’t have to pay for jerseys. Humber has had partnerships with companies to help financially but the jerseys are expensive.
But this year, player members will have to pay for the jersey, Lachapelle said. He also said the team staff is working to subsidize the prices.
“We want the players to pay as little as they can but they have to pay,” he said.
Humber Esports Smash Melee team captain and game programming student Samuel Nicolas said in an interview on the Discord, a VoIP application popular among gamers, said Humber might use gold and blue colour scheme like last year. that Humber might use gold and blue colour scheme worn last year.
“I think the color scheme is fine, it looked great on last year’s jerseys and I heard this year it would be even better,” Nicolas said.
Tang said he wants esports to mirror competitive tournaments in varsity sports.
“Unlike the CCAA, esports doesn’t have a way to scout players,” he said.
“Most have no experience in organized sports,” Tang said.
Tang said the jerseys will build team unity and get players to be more comfortable with their teammates.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic many Esports tournaments and leagues have been postponed or cancelled.
The esports season for Humber has been going on all winter and is currently in its final month. Whether Humber Esports team wears the new jerseys for the remainder of this season or the next one remains uncertain.
