NRG unveils VALORANT academy with Maryville University

North American esports organisation NRG has announced a new VALORANT development programme in partnership with Maryville University.

Announced through a post on social media, the team will launch an NRG Academy team in the North American VALORANT Challengers League (VCL).

The new academy initiative is set to create more pathways for players who are looking to make it to the professional scene, supporting their long-term growth through a pro-standard training environment.

NRG also unveiled its full academy roster that will be competing in the VCL starting on January 19th, led by head coach Matthew ‘mCe‘ Elmore:

According to the official announcement, NRG’s partnership with Maryville University aims to address the challenge of having to choose to commit to pro play or focus on education.

As a result, players who join the NRG Academy will have the option to pursue a degree under scholarship at Maryville and compete in its collegiate ecosystem.

Maryville University is known for being one of the most established collegiate esports programmes in North America, with strong success in League of Legends. Several students, such as Sajed ‘Sajed‘ Ziade and Michael ‘Cryogen‘ Luu, have previously played for Maryville and are now getting their opportunity in North America’s LCS this year.

The academy initiative also comes shortly after NRG announced its return to the League of Legends scene through the tier-two scene after acquiring NACL team DarkZero Dragonsteel.

NRG had an incredible 2025 in the VALORANT scene, having won the 2025 VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) in Paris, France, after a rough start to the year.

Heading into the new 2026 season, the team only made one roster change, with Sam ‘s0m‘ Oh being replaced by Georgio ‘keiko’ Sanassy. The new line-up is set to make its debut on January 17th, when the team will have its first official match for VCT 2026: Americas Kickoff.