University of California, Irvine offering a Smash Bros. Ultimate scholarship

The University of California, Irvine is kicking off a scholarship team of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players during the 2019-20 academic year. This is possible through a $50,000 donation from the owners of Street Media, a publishing company. Players will be picked by the university's eSports program and TAG Smash Ultimate Club. Scholarships worth $6,000 will be ished out to the top six players. UCI eSports will provide staff to coordinate practice times, travel, social media, equipment needs and competitions. Finally, players are expected to practice 10 to 15 hours per week and maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA.

“The ‘Smash’ community at UCI is one of the biggest and most passionate gaming clubs on campus. We are fortunate to be able to offer scholarships to ‘League of Legends’ and ‘Overwatch’ players. When a donor emerged with a desire to support one of his favorite games, we knew this was something we had to pursue to create more opportunities for the ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ student gaming community.” - Mark Deppe, director of UCI eSports