Jamk joins the Finnish Esports Federation

In 2020, the Jamk University of Applied Sciences was accepted as an affiliated organisation of the Finnish Esports Federation (SEUL). This was preceded by consistent and active work to develop electronic sport and raise awareness of it at Jamk.

SEUL justifies Jamk’s membership by noting that Jamk strives to actively develop e-sports in Finland, create opportunities for research in this sport, and offer new expertise to the field. According to SEUL, the e-sports summer school organised by Jamk, for example, gives young people a good opportunity to get to know the sport.

Jamk is the second university of applied sciences to be accepted as an affiliated organisation. The first one was Kajaani University of Applied Sciences, which has organised education relating to e-sport business since 2018. Jamk is planning to offer a diverse and multidisciplinary selection of e-sports programmes.

“E-sport is about not only business but also well-being and coaching, in which the typical characteristics of the sport can be examined from the perspectives of physical and psychological training as well as maintaining and improving functional capacity. Simply put, this means ensuring mental and physical well-being in a sport that involves a great deal of sitting down but occasionally requires rapid reactions and an ability to tolerate pressure, as well as fine motor skills, explains Tuomas Rauhansalo, Project Specialist at Jamk.

SEUL wishes to ensure that study contents and modules related to e-sport are produced to a high standard across Finland. According to SEUL, while the possibilities of pursuing degree studies in e-sport in Finland remain very limited, they are growing rapidly. In the Federation's view, higher education institutions play a major role in producing research on the sport’s ecosystem and business processes, for example in the form of theses.

The Finnish Esports Federation (SEUL) is the umbrella organisation for Finnish competitive electronic gaming. Its mission is to improve and promote electronic sports and the activities of our members. The Federation's activities are divided into the development of e-sports, protection of player’s interests and communication. Its values include openness, unity and responsibility, and its mission is to represent its members and Finnish e-sport amateurs and professionals, protecting their interests. The objective is to raise awareness of the sport in Finland and to influence the development of electronic sports internationally.