Recently, University Campus of Esports hosted the inaugural UK University Halo Spring Major LAN on campus in London – first-year student, Aria Coggins, looks back at all the action.
This past Saturday, March 23rd 2024, the first University Halo League (UHL) LAN was held in London; supported by the University Campus of Esports and student-led organisation, London Legion.
Hosted at the Lee Valley VeloPark, the event brought key appearances from notable figures in the Halo community, including Oscar, Co-founder and owner of AtlasGG – who, alongside UHL founder Alex Reed, announced a partnership between Atlas and the European Halo League.
“Getting everyone together and kind of trying to create this powerhouse almost to drive the region forward, it’s been so fun to work on and finally get there,” Oscar, the Atlas owner, shared the joy with Reed live during an interview.
CptJamesForce and Hicksy were casting the event, alongside London Legion’s Competitive Director, Louis “SKI1TON” Skilton, who made his Halo casting debut for the event.
University Campus of Esports’ own Professor Philip Wilson made an appearance at the event and on the live stream to support home-team London Legion, who achieved third place after a tough best of five against reigning champions Leeds Lion Hearts from Leeds University.
Birmingham City University’s Jackal Snipers, ranked fourth at the live event, after losing matches against London Legion and Leeds Lion Hearts.
The final, streamed live to over 700 twitch viewers, saw winter titleholders Leeds Lion Hearts go up against Durham University’s Durham Defenders in a match causing many to reminisce over last season’s final, where Leeds took the win in a gruelling best-of-five.
Durham’s LaCatarina told Reed as she spoke on the highlighted rivalry “We got it […] We’ve beaten them before and we can do it again.”
In a clean sweep, Durham took the title from rival Leeds – ending with a final score of 3 to 0, marking the Durham Defenders as the overall winners for the Spring split.
Want to see all of the action from this event? The full VOD of the tournament is available on the European Halo League YouTube channel.