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We're fans too: Staff battle it out in our first global football e-tournament

03.09.20

by Editorial Staff

During lockdown, a group of our employees came together with an idea to boost team spirit during a challenging time

03.09.20

by Editorial Staff

During lockdown, a group of our employees came together with an idea to boost team spirit during a challenging time

As we all know, things have been very different this year. In the world of sport, global competitions like the 2020 Summer Olympics, the Masters, and UEFA EURO 2020 were all postponed while the world readjusted to its new normal.

Here at Deltatre, our 1,000 staff were already set up to work remotely, with online tools in place to help us communicate with our teams across the globe. However, following government guidelines, many offline social events like our annual charity five-aside football tournament were delayed to keep our staff safe during lockdown.

Determined to keep up the camaraderie and friendly competition usually at the heart of the tournament, a group of Deltatre employees decided to launch the first Deltatre FIFA eTournament. Held entirely online, staff from our 19 offices globally were invited to take part and show off what they could do either on PlayStation or Xbox.

I wouldn’t say I have ‘work friends’, I have friends that I happen to have made at work.

James Robbins
Service Manager

The competition, held outside of office hours, lasted for three weeks and saw staff from London, LA, Sydney, and Prague take part.

Led by Broadcast Engineer Chandler Monk and Service Manager James Robbins, the tournament was a real team effort. Players were split into groups ahead of the knock-out stage, and many other Deltatre staff took the time to help out with the live streams, graphics, and short video sketches. They also shared daily updates to keep the players in the know about latest news and results.

Chandler said: “During lockdown, it was a great way to keep conversations going with people who we’re used to seeing every day as well as meet new people within the company. Everyone could watch the tournament in their own time, it was brilliant for building morale.”

Both James and Chandler are passionate about the importance of teamwork within the company and beyond, so wanted to create the tournament to keep the spirit alive even during a time when many were facing shifts in their personal and professional lives.

"Friendships have always been so important at Deltatre,” says James. “It was especially important to keep people united when they were working apart and the world was going through a tumultuous time.”

“Getting along with people can really help in your job as you can support each other on your strengths and weaknesses. I wouldn’t say I have ‘work friends’, I have friends that I happen to have made at work,” he says.

Other colleagues to get involved included:

  • Billy Cromarty for graphics creation and live streaming assistance
  • Giulia Gaido, who created initial graphic slates
  • Matt Stevens, who provided editing help
  • Marcello Lombardo, who provided streaming tech guidance
  • Will Bell, Ryan Jeffrey, Matt Eastham, and Will Scott for appearing on the stream

James Robbins and Will Scott won the PlayStation and Xbox competitions and received football shirts in recognition of their achievement. James picked the 20/21 season AFC Ajax away shirt as he is a big fan of the club and likes the retro design of the shirt. Also liking its retro style, Barcelona fan Will picked the 19/20 season FC Barcelona 3rd shirt.