Team Norse Thunder is a Birmingham based eSports organisation that uses the power of gaming to bring people together to fight social isolation and loneliness. The business was founded by University of Birmingham Masters graduate Dave Scotford and includes over 250 active members and a core staff of 6 people.
In this fast-paced and ever progressing digital age the eSports market has been growing rapidly with some estimations reporting that there will be 1billion global viewers by 2025. So with such growing popularity it is perhaps no coincidence to learn that this year's Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham will include competitive eSports competitions for the very first time in its history and who knows, maybe the Olympics will follow suit one day too.
On first inspection you would be forgiven for thinking this business has a sole focus on competitive gaming, after all some of the players are ranked in the top 32 in Europe. But if you dig a little deeper there is something quite extraordinary at work going on behind the scenes which actively fosters positivity and creates opportunities for young people.
I sat down with Dave Scotford in the Working Lounge of The Exchange to find out more about this fantastic eSports story and learn how his own past experiences of loneliness has had such an impact on the direction of the organisation.
Dave: I'm from Stourbridge. I grew up with a really close family, I was close to my mates and everything in my life even the town was close-knit.
But the day I moved to Nottingham for the first day of my degree, I literally remember the moment. My mum and dad dropped me off at the university accommodation, immediately then I was on my own.
I didn't know anyone. I didn't know the city and it turned out I had nothing in common with my flat-mates. It was a real shock to the system and for the first time ever I felt lonely. My course went well, I had no problems there. [However] ...life outside my course was difficult and I kind of fell back into my childhood hobby of gaming and playing Pokemon to pass the time.
During my uni days to combat the loneliness I travelled to gaming events around the UK. I was surprised how many people were there and playing the games I liked and I met new people, went to get food with them, spent the weekends with some of them and it reminded me of my former self before I had moved from home. I recognised that there was a real interest in gaming but there wasn't so many events to support my passion of eSports at the time. This together with my experiences of feeling isolated got me thinking there was a gap that needed to be filled.
So after completing my degree in 2016 at Nottingham Trent University I spent a couple of years working in data driven jobs but still feeling unsettled, I decided to change direction and I applied to do a Masters in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Birmingham. For some time I had been thinking about creating an eSports team and on the first day of my Masters at Birmingham (in my first lecture as it happened!) something clicked and I decided to just do it ....so I registered the business and Team Norse Thunder was born.
Fast forward into the present day and one thing becomes apparent when talking to Dave. Team Norse Thunder has developed massively from it's conception and it isn't all about gaming. It is also community. Maybe family is a better word for it, but there is a sense of nurture and belonging which connects local young people in Birmingham to a global platform of gamers. Dave has made partnerships with organisations to actively help young people complete diplomas and qualifications in English, Maths, Digital Skills and even eSports too. This has the full support of local education authorities who recognise the potential to give young people a boost following life's hurdles.
Dave: We use games as a way to bring people together. We typically help people who have faced barriers and hurdles in their life. Barriers can be big or small, in some cases very personal barriers but here we have teams who play together under a coach, they have fun and slowly build up a friendship network and get the experience of a dressing room unity you would typically associate with ball sports like Football. We help young people to upskill - those who come out of school who may not have their Maths or English qualifications, those who don't have any work experience or those who have fallen through the cracks of the system... we are there for them. I guess we act like a safety net and we have a homely feel to what we do. 'Ignite a Spark' is our strap line and whatever barriers they are facing our programmes and community are there to help young people find their spark, whatever that may mean to them.
Life as an entrepreneur at The Exchange...
We have this city centre venue now in The Exchange. Friday
Nights and weekends people are here having fun, meeting new people and you think
about a city these days, how many places can you go without spending money? How many
places can you go and just exist for a day and meet people without any
expectation whatsoever?
The best part of being a founder is seeing the positive stories that happen. It's definitely the people side of our business that is most rewarding - seeing the confidence levels increase and the journeys of those who have overcome life difficulties. On the flip side, being an entrepreneur isn't a 9-5 job and you live it 24 hours a day. You live and breathe it. You get to see the journey of each player and ultimately Team Norse Thunder is a home for everyone who needs that support.
The Exchange has been a real help for us - it has taken us to that next level. Collaboration is everything for us right down to our business model which we are open to share with anyone. We have worked closely with education authorities in Birmingham and forged sponsorship with businesses. We have worked with other University of Birmingham start-ups based at The Exchange including Bloomwise, Windswept Workshops and Bored Wreckers Inc to name a few.
The very first mentor I had gave me good advice. He sat me down and encouraged me not to spend loads of time creating a business plan - just to get started, launch something minimal and start something and see what happens. That was such good advice.
How you can help support Team Norse Thunder...
We always look at ways to support young people coming through. We have many going through our eSports academy and businesses can get involved by offering placements to these young people. The competitive gamers are part of the 1% top gamers in the UK and top 8% in the world so we are always looking for sponsorship. We have striking yellow and black jerseys and there is opportunity for businesses to sponsor these shirts which appear at global competitions. If you would like to get in touch then we would love to hear from you.
You can contact Team Norse Thunder by visiting their website
An interview with Dave Scotford by Bob Lee - April 2022
With thanks to Dave Scotford, Team Norse Thunder
Additional: written and edited by Bob Lee (B-Enterprising)
Image credits: Dave Scotford, Team Norse Thunder
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