Fanshawe Fuel Esports has had a jam-packed season, with many of its teams coming out victorious. The team saw success in various games like Call of Duty, Valorant, and Overwatch 2.

One of the most notable highlights this past year was the major rebranding Fuel underwent before the start of the season.

“We shifted away from the namesake of the Fanshawe Ultimate Esports League” said Adam Boyce, a team manager for Fuel.

Fuel originally started before the COVID-19 pandemic when it was named the Fanshawe Ultimate Esports League or “FUEL.” When the world came to a halt and everything shifted online, the program followed, which allowed it to evolve. As time passed, the team at “FUEL” felt like it was time for a change, and so that was when Fanshawe Student Union’s (FSU) graphics team went to the drawing board to create its new look.

“The graphics team in the FSU office spent a lot of time last summer going over a couple different things to basically modernize it, make it easier to work with, working with merch and graphics and different things,” said Boyce.  “It was just inspired by a necessary change to make things easier for us and players have loved it so far.”

Fuel also kicked off its first ever league featuring marginalized players in the program, the Game Changers league. Although similar leagues have been around, it’s the college’s first of its kind as it was introduced last fall.

“The leagues have always existed for us to go into, there’s just never been a college-specific one until last year, when they finally opened a college-specific Game Changers league.” said Boyce.

Boyce added that showcasing the new league at Fanshawe Open House tours has introduced a welcoming feeling for future Falcons to join when they come to Fanshawe.

Focusing on how well the teams competed, Fuel’s Call of Duty team had some remarkable highlights this past season, which resulted in a championship win.

“We’ve had a couple of guys who’ve been playing for us for a pretty long time—like two or three years—and they’ve been one of our better teams, consistently competing at the higher levels compared to some of our other rosters. They’ve been fighting for a championship win for a couple of years, which they finally got. So I know they were super excited about that and it was awesome to watch that happen,” said Boyce.

With another eventful chapter completed in their Esports legacy, the 2024-25 season was a success on two fronts for the program. As they move into the off-season, many key members who have been part of the Fuel community are graduating and moving on, making it a bittersweet moment.

“Almost everyone is graduating so we’re losing a lot of key players and people that have been around in the program for a long time,” said Boyce. “I think that the people we’ve had over the last couple years have put the program in an amazing position for success and I think everyone should be proud of themselves. And I hope that next year the people that come in can and pick up what we left behind.”