December 2018 to May 2019. While the Quebec Electronic Sports Federation (QESF) had several pressing issues to deal with, I accepted a six-month term to be the interim Executive Director. Among the important issues I had to deal with was the Cyber Espoirs League.
To briefly summarize, the Cyber Espoir League (LCE) was initially a facet of the Cyber Espoir Program. This program, theorized by Patrick Pigeon, had for objectives to allow young adults to evolve towards a professional career in the field of electronic sports by supporting them financially (scholarships) and academically (training programs), to support the student associations (structurally and financially), as well as to make discover electronic sports to the general public. It included a promotional tour in schools, support to student associations, the Cyber Espoirs Championship, support to student associations, programs and workshops in electronic sports, and finally the Cyber Espoirs League. Due to lack of funding, only the LCE took place.
As the LCE slowly grew among high schools and CEGEPs, several threats threatened its sustainability: the league relied mainly on volunteers and was not self-sufficient, private companies wanted to establish themselves in Quebec, and other student league projects were being planned.
The solution: fix the problem at the source. Who are the participants in the ECL? The student institutions. So we had to partner with them. At the CEGEP level, I sat down with Jasmin Roy, Director of Student Affairs and Communications at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit. Together, we discussed the idea of a college league that would be jointly owned by the Fédération des Cégeps and the FQSE.Working committees were quickly set up with outstanding personnel from the FQSE and the Fédération des Cégeps. The Ligue collégiale de sports électroniques (LCSE) was born.
At the same time, we created the Ligue scolaire de sports électroniques (LSSE). However, since there was no federating organization at the high school level, I was not able to establish this same type of partnership.
In the fall of 2021, the majority of Cegeps are competing in the LCSE, the league is sustainable and will only continue to grow.
