Conestoga welcomed students from colleges and universities for the second annual WaterLAN - a provincial collegiate esports invitational event held January 10 to 12 in partnership with the University of Waterloo. Teams competed in League of Legends, VALORANT and VALORANT Game Changers.
Players from the Waterloo Warriors compete in the second annual WaterLAN provincial collegiate esports invitational event hosted by Conestoga and the University of Waterloo.
“Combining the efforts and hosting abilities of both institutions allowed us to expand the scope and impact of WaterLAN. This provides the opportunity to host a wider range of game titles and welcoming a diverse selection of teams - all while highlighting a thriving and collaborative local scene,” said Zack Dodge, supervisor, Esports Operations.
Conestoga hosted the Valorant competitions at its Waterloo campus esports hub, where the Conestoga men’s team placed first.
“We are excited about our win and the performance of all our teams at this event,” added Dodge.
“In addition to the great competition, WaterLAN is a significant opportunity to gather and celebrate the emerging esports scene in Ontario. As Condors esports prepares to launch our esports arena this year, events like WaterLAN help our staff and students prepare to be best-in-class event hosts.”
The college will open a 10,000 square-foot esports arena in fall 2025. The state-of-the-art space will allow for high-performance play, high-quality streaming and production, and innovation in gaming and simulation.
The arena is part of the thriving esports scene at the college, with teams competing in several third-party collegiate leagues, highly competitive developer leagues sanctioned by game publishers and numerous tournaments against opponents from across Canada and the United States.
“The return of WaterLAN highlights the incredible growth of esports in Waterloo Region. We’re proud to support esports events, particularly one that is home-grown and showcases the incredible investment and talent of our post-secondary partners,” said Allister Scorgie, director of Sport Hosting at Explore Waterloo Region.
“WaterLAN isn’t just a competition for our partners, but an opportunity to highlight their event hosting capabilities including tournament operations, broadcast/streaming, management of hardware and tech, to name a few. It’s a collaborative effort by the institutions, staff and students that has resulted in bringing the best collegiate esports teams in Ontario to Waterloo Region.”
“The fun part for me is playing against my friends from other schools who are here. It allows me to get more into the community,” said Ekam Lally, a member of the men’s Valorant team and a third-year student in the Bachelor of Computer Science program.
A LAN tournament features multiplayer games on a local area network (LAN), allowing players to compete together in a physical location. The tournament enabled participants to network and meet competitors they had only ever met virtually.
“It was really fun for me. This is probably my fifth or sixth LAN now, and I think this is one of the better LANs that we’ve been to. They set it up really well,” said Britain Sharp, a competitor from Utica University who travelled from New York to attend.
“We’ve been at tournaments that normally are not as smooth as this, so we’ve had experiences on both sides,” said Dan Sportello, director of esports at Utica University.
“The staff here were actively working on everything and very responsive in making sure things were being taken care of. I am very happy with everything they’ve done, and I can say right now that we’ll definitely be back here next year.”
To learn more about Conestoga’s competitive esports program, visit Condors Esports.
Visit the School of Creative Industries to learn more about programming and careers that support Canada’s gaming and esports industry.