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

NZ Esports has an exciting year with first Olympics and continued momentum in the esports sector, says NZ Esports President Conor English.

“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 English

“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.

“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.

“Over the past three years, Kiwi esports athletes have delivered exceptional results on the world stage, including amongst others:

• 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.

“Additionally, New Zealand has qualified for every major international esports event, demonstrating the depth and consistency of our talent.

“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,

“We are looking forward to meeting with the new Minister of Sport, Hon Mark Mitchell to educate him and help ensure our esport sector receives appropriate government support as we wrokl towards the first ever esport Olympic games!” Mr English concluded.

Mr English also noted the NZ Esports Board was confirmed at the recent AGM:

President - Conor English

Vice President - Duane Mutu

Alison Shanks

Belinda Hope

Henry Lawton

Nikolasa Biasiny-Tule

Paul Kao

Board member profiles:

Duane 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.

Alison 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.

Belinda 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.

Henry 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.

Nikolasa 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.

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 NZESF

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