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The crowd goes wild as Fergus Steers rounds the final bend and heads for the home straight; the chequered flag flashes as he crosses the line. Except 14-year-old Fergus is not driving a car, he is playing a video game. "I qualified for the quarterfinals, so I was pretty happy about that since I was a little bit rusty," Fergus said. The Yanco Agricultural High School student was among 80 students from eight schools and 11 teams who competed at the inaugural Riverina FUSE Cup competition in the south-west NSW town of Leeton earlier this month. It was the first time an esports event had been held in rural New South Wales. "It feels good to prove to people in the city that the bush kids can play. It's not always the city kids [that] are the best," Fergus said. More than a race The competition is part of a push to promote a safe online environment and strategies for young people to navigate the online world. "A lot of the digital wellbeing we are talking about can be anything based around cyberbullying — if a stranger approaches you online … [or] image-based abuse — and making sure that everybody is aware of what is going on online," said FUSE Cup operations coordinator Kristen Cummins. Ms Cummins said opportunities for gaming careers were growing, and it was important the FUSE Cup reached out to regional and rural areas to include them in this growth. Gaming industry revenue has increased by 200 per cent in Australia since 2016, according to a 2024 Australia Game Development Industry snapshot report. The number of game development employees in Australia had also increased by over 192 per cent during that time. Ms Cummins said that with the addition of more worldwide competitions and the inaugural 2027 Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia, there could be opportunities to play professionally. It is a career 16-year-old Jack Curry hoped could be an option. The Leeton High School student won the Riverina FUSE Cup and will compete in the state finals on the Gold Coast next month. "I think it's a pretty good way, at least for me, to try and find other competitors," Jack said. "This is the first time I've made it so far in a tournament, and I'm really stoked to follow through. "If I'm going to nationals, I need to at least make it past the first round." But like any good sporting event, there was more to the competition than winning. "Everyone's kept their temper, or if they don't win, they're not sad about it, not angry or anything," said Shaiila Ogilvie from St Francis College. "They're just happy and understanding for the [winning] team. "No-one's yelled at anyone. They've all fist bumped and said 'good job'."
