NZ Esports Celebrates Milestone Year With Olympics Debut And Continued Momentum In …

“Over the
past three years, Kiwi esports athletes have delivered
exceptional results on the world stage, including amongst
others:Nikolasa
Biasiny-TuleHenry Lawton“Additionally,
New Zealand has qualified for every major international
esports event, demonstrating the depth and consistency of
our talent.“The Olympic Esports Games, debuting in 2025
and returning in 2027, will bring esports to the forefront
of global competition. New Zealand, as one of the first
countries to officially recognise esports as a sport, is
well-placed to lead in this space.

• Kate McCarthy’s gold at the UCI Cycling
  Esports World Championships 2024.
• Liam Dimock’s
  gold at the 37th America’s Cup eSailing Series
  2024.
• Reagan Kelly’s bronze at the Global Esports
  Games 2022 for Street Fighter.

“Over the last
few years New Zealand Esports has worked internationally to
develop connections and pathways for our top athletes. Weve
also developed comprehensive high-performance framework that
meets HPSNZ’s criteria. Our strategy prioritises
innovation, sustainable pathways, and athlete wellbeing, all
while delivering exceptional outcomes.Paul Kao

“We have had a very busy
year in 2024, but with the first ever Olympic esport games
proposed for later in the year, its going to be even busier
and bigger,” President of NZ Esports, Conor
EnglishVice
President – Duane MutuHenry
Lawton – Board Member
Henry Lawton is the
general manager of VictoryUP. He successfully launched the
Wellington Secondary School league as an official sport in
the Wellington region and run the largest high school
esports league to date with more than 1,000 students
participating nationwide. Henry has a passion for growing
the esports scene from grassroots and offers a unique
insight into how to successfully engage with
esports.“Our E Blacks continued to make waves
internationally, with JMK King qualifying for the IESF
championships and Sasha, Matthew, and a Dota2 Open Team
qualifying for GEF events,Advertisement – scroll to continue readingNikolasa Biasiny-Tule – Board
Member
Nikolasa has extensive experience working
in digital spaces and alongside indigenous communities. She
has a Masters in Public Policy and Administration from
Waikato University where she lectured for 5 years in the
School of Māori & Pacific Development. She is founding
Director of TangataWhenua.com, one of Aotearoa’s first
Māori news portals launched in 2002. Nikolasa is co-founder
of Digital Basecamp, Rotorua’s largest coworking space for
digital content creators and cofounded Digital Natives
Academy Charitable Trust.
© Scoop Media

Alison ShanksBelinda Hope – Board
Member
Belinda owns TenForward Technology
Lounge, a specialised after school care and holiday
programme that uses gaming as a tool to support social
development skills for young people. Belinda is a business
and entrepreneurship mentor, and is also on the Board of
SkateNZ to support both community and competitive sport.
Belinda has also taken on the role of Community Grants &
Funding Advisor in 2022 for NZ Esports.Go to Scoop Pro
Find out moreAlison Shanks – Board
Member
Alison Shanks is a New Zealand Olympian
#1085, Commonwealth Games Gold medalist and World Champion
Track Cyclist. Alison is heavily involved in New Zealand
sport governance and has been a Director of High Performance
Sport New Zealand, and Cycling New Zealand and is a current
member of the NZOC Athlete Commission and the Oceania
representative on the Commonwealth Games Federation Athlete
Advisory Commission.Paul Kao – Board
Member
Paul is the owner of Playtech, a large
computer and technology reseller. Paul has had deep roots to
the gaming and esports community as one of the largest
equipment providers in the space. Paul brings a wealth of
community relationships, business acumen and critical
perspective to the
NZESFBelinda
HopePresident – Conor EnglishJoin Pro Individual
Find out moreDuane Mutu – Vice
President
Duane has held senior roles within the
gaming industry since 2010. He has worked with publishers
including Activision, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Disney
Interactive, Electronic Arts, Riot, SEGA and Warner Bros. He
is an experienced managing director with a demonstrated
history of working in the broadcast media industry. Duane is
passionate about the development of esports on a regional
and global scale as well as delivering world-class
broadcasting content. Outside of the office he enjoys
surfing and finds the correlation between the rise of action
sports and esports both fascinating and
inspiring.
Board member
profiles: