Members of Fanshawe Fuel Esports team have been selected as finalists for the NACE Esports Awards.

Logan “Apollo” Morand earned a nomination for Broadcast Producer of the Year while the Fuel production Team was  up for Outstanding Production Team. 

The Broadcast Producer of the Year award recognizes a student who “had the foresight and wisdom to capture the most thrilling moments on camera in the past academic year.” 

“Logan led most of our production efforts throughout the year, including our very successful on-campus Fuel Awards,” said Tyler Hetherington, Fuel Esports Coordinator. “[He] always had new ideas and was willing to go the extra mile to execute on our plans.”

Morand admitted he was surprised by his nomination. 

“In an industry like collegiate Esports which is dominated by American schools, I was extremely surprised and excited to have been nominated,” Morand said. “Not only to be nominated as Producer of the Year, but to also see my team be nominated for Outstanding Production of the Year was a very proud moment for me.”

Morand led the Fuel production team for three years while also assisting with managing the content team. He has streamed and produced over 1,200 hours of content through Twitch, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. 

The production team overall streamed for 226 hours over the past academic year, drawing in over 15,000 live views from Twitch.tv. Fuel’s broadcasts were also featured on RogersTV,  and at local restaurants like Chuck’s Roadhouse and Crabby Joe's. Members of the production team have gone on to expand their gaming careers outside of Fuel through events in Toronto and community-hosted tournaments. 

“While some may think Fuel is just a student job, to me we are like a family,” Morand said. “I've met some amazing people and some of my closest friends through the program. It’s a great way to get into Esports production as we are one of the very few schools in Canada that take Esports productions seriously.”

After graduating from Fanshawe’s Broadcasting–Television and Film Production, and Advanced Digital Media Production programs, Morand was hired by CBC as a producer. Morand said he credits his time at Fanshawe and with Fuel for helping him land the new role. 

“My professors were the ones who pushed me to continue learning and get to a level I never thought I’d be at,” Morand said. “While Fuel doesn’t use traditional broadcasting equipment, I was able to learn and master programs that are slowly being implemented in the real world.”

The awards were voted on by representatives from NACE’s member schools, and voting closed July 12. Although neither Morand nor the Fuel production team won their respective awards, Morand was still proud to be named as a finalist.  “I could never have done it alone,” he said. “Although I led my team, it was never a one man show. Props to my team for always supporting me, without them I couldn't have done it.”

Morand added that he was sad to be leaving Fuel but that he is very excited to see what the team accomplishes next. 

Check out the full list of NACE Award Winners here.