Dr. Jason Cable, the senior associate commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), hopes to increase the excitement and engagement surrounding the esports platform through SWAC’s partnership with the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE). Cable expressed high expectations for SWAC’s current season of esports competition while partnered with NACE, as well as future seasons.

“We’re proud to be a partner of NACE. We think that this initial year will drum up additional interest,” said Cable. “We have six participating teams, that’s sixty percent of our membership. As of right now, we will include two additional members. Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University will be joining our conference July 1^st. We look to continue to grow.”

Cable identified a multi-faceted approach that would be implemented in order to strengthen esports within SWAC institutions as well. An athletic competition approach, a student services approach, and an academic approach will all be employed in order to benefit SWAC institutions and their esports programs.

“In a three-year period we look to have one hundred percent participation across the competitive space, a high level of participation in the student services space, and we look to kick off our academic initiatives we already have programs surfacing on campus relating to esports,” said Cable. “In the next five years, we would like to see our students actively engaged in careers in the esports or gaming space.”

Cable also expressed that working with NACE brings attention and credibility to SWAC’s involvements in the esports space.

“NACE provides access to the highest level of competition in collegiate esports. With the access to elite competition, NACE also provides the infrastructure and guidance to create the optimum gaming experience for students and institutions.” said Cable. “We see partnering with NACE really setting us up to reach our future goals.”

To learn more about NACE’s interview with Dr. Jason Cable, watch the video linked below.