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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina colleges and universities are cashing in on competitive video gaming.

David Alvarez’s love for soccer began at an early age.

“The first thing when I was born was probably kicking a ball, so that’s the only thing I know,” Alvarez said.

He grew up in Barcelona, Spain, where the sport reigns supreme.

“I was the guy that would dream about being a soccer player that will live just for soccer,” Alvarez said.

That dream brought him to the U.S. about five years ago after getting the opportunity to play soccer.

A senior at Queens University in Charlotte, Alvarez plays on the men’s soccer team as he pursues a degree in sports management.

“One of the reasons I’m here is because one day I want to go back home and be like, ‘Mom and dad, you don’t have to work anymore. I got you,'” Alvarez said.

Competitive on the field, Alvarez enjoys sitting back and playing video games, like Rocket League, with his friends back home.

“I play with them a lot and it’s also a way to keep up with our lives and everything. We just play games as an excuse to talk about our things,” Alvarez said.

He is one of several college interns at the Carolina E-Sports Hub in Charlotte. The 8,000-square-foot gaming facility opened last fall to host live video gaming events where players compete for prize money.

“You get a lot of people playing and a lot of people are going to be making money from it,” Alvarez said. 

Alvarez thought this gig was going to be all about playing video games.

“But then I saw all the work that they’re doing here,” Alvarez said. “The planning and everything that they do… I’ll say it’s a lot of work.” 

As with traditional sporting events, Alvarez helps with marketing, graphic design and producing online broadcasts for each competition.

“If you get experiences at places like this, then you know where you’re going to see yourself in the future,” Alvarez said.

While his dream of becoming a professional soccer player fades, Alvarez is excited about his new love of working behind the scenes in a fast-growing sports industry.

“It makes it very fun because it’s not just having that routine, it’s not doing the same thing every day,” Alvarez said. “Every time it’s changing and changing and that’s something that I really love doing.” 

Esports is evolving into a multibillion-dollar industry around the world.

It’s why CJ Collins, director of operations at the Carolina E-Sports Hub, is helping build programs at colleges and universities to teach the next generation of gamers.

Collins says a lot of skill is required to be good at esports. He says it’s why more and more Division I schools are incorporating it into their athletic programs.

“There's already a bunch of them that are doing it. If they're not doing it right now, they're planning to do it,” Collins said. “It's kind of catching fire… where they'll all have a big D1 program and it’ll be like football or basketball.” 

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University are among the latest schools to get money from the state to invest in esports programs, degrees and scholarships.

There are also different career paths to take within the industry, such as software development, video editing, production and graphic design, Collins said.