ST. CLAIR COLLEGE
St. Clair College Saints collect more hardware at Scholastic Esports Awards

When Shaun Byrne first pitched a collegiate esports program at St. Clair College back in 2016, he wasn't sure how viable it would be at the Canadian College level.

"I imagined it was possible, but I didn't imagine that we'd be leading the charge," said St. Clair College Esports Director, Shaun Byrne.

Saints Esports Director Shaun Byrne, Marketing & Events Manager Valerie Shih-Lau, Events coordinator Owen Parker, and Call of Duty Varsity Premier Head coach Zarin Bartholomew at the Scholastic Esports Awards. (Valerie Shih-Lau/St. Clair College)

Nearly a decade later, Canada's first esports program is still turning heads and winning accolades, despite massive growth among Canadian and American colleges and universities.

Byrne recently won top honours as the Collegiate Director of the Year for a two-year program at the annual Scholastic Esports Awards.

"Having an Award that recognizes you for it really just lights a fire underneath me for doing what I'm doing," said Byrne. "It makes me aware that we're headed in the right direction and gives me some renewed energy."

"The Scholastic Esports Awards honor the spirit of advancement, recognizing students and programs that push the boundaries of what's possible in both gaming and education," according to event organizers. "By fostering innovation, leadership, and personal growth, we celebrate those who are driving the future of esports forward while advancing their academic and professional aspirations."

At the awards ceremony, hosted at The Ohio State University, St. Clair College was also named the top two-year Esports Collegiate program against a field of hundreds of programs, including juggernauts like the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Boise State and Syracuse.

"We definitely have time to our advantage of having that lead, of being able to establish ourselves over the years, and we've done a pretty good job of staying ahead of other schools coming up behind us," said Byrne, who credits St. Clair College administration with believing in his proposal despite the lack of comparable programs and varsity teams in Canada or the U.S. at the time the program launched in 2017.

Clearing the initial hurdle

When Byrne first started working in Esports in 2012, he notes at that time, there was no such thing as Collegiate Esports.

In his pitch to St. Clair College, Byrne presented a video to then College President Dr. John Strasser, along with the senior operating group. The video showcased an esports competition in a stadium full of roaring fans and an electric environment, just like a sporting event.

The College quickly bought into the idea, as gaming was already embraced on campus through the existing Information Technology Club.

Byrne was soon after brought in as the Esports coordinator, and in September 2017, the College officially launched Saints Gaming, a competitive collegiate esports team, the first of its kind north of the border.

After a few years of development, the Esports Administration and Entrepreneurship program launched in 2019, covering a range of topics including sports management, media production, event management, entrepreneurship, team and league administration and marketing.

Since then, both the varsity team and program are both thriving, becoming a powerhouse in the North American esports community.

"We've had a lot of competitive success, but we've got a lot of success on the academic side as well, with our broadcasting, with our marketing, with our events," Byrne said. "That's the goal overall, is to be well-rounded and try to do all of those things really well."

Each fall, 50 to 60 students enroll in the Esports program, but as Byrne notes, not all of them are gamers.

"We really pride ourselves on being well rounded and giving opportunities to as many students as possible," said Byrne. "We've got students that don't even competitively play. They're just involved on the marketing team or on our broadcasting team. That's what they prefer, so we've built parts of the program that that work for them."

The program and support team also heavily recruit on an international scale, attracting the top echelon of competitive talent, due largely to the program prestige and its world-class facility within the Don France Student Commons at the Main Windsor Campus.

This year alone, the program and varsity team welcomed students from Germany, Austria, Italy, numerous South American countries, and the United States.

"We're bringing students in because they're seeing what we're doing here, and they want to be a part of it," Byrne said. "We're looking at players that are right on the fringe of going pro. Maybe they're a former pro or maybe they're currently being scouted to go pro. That's the type of player that we're looking at for our top competitive team."

Shaun Byrne accepts the award for Collegiate Esports Director of the Year at the Scholastic Esports Awards in January 2025. (Valerie Shih-Lau/St. Clair College)