Down under, Longhorns level up

UT Austin students compete against international teams in the 2026 Academic Esports World Tournament

February 17, 2026

A group of UT Austin students pose in front of the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Sydney, Australia.

On a sunny January day in Sydney, Australia, 10 University of Texas students arrived at the University of New South Wales as strangers but soon, they’d be competing as a team at the Academic Esports World Tournament.

“In the airport and while traveling, we kept to ourselves, but we all started bonding right away,” said Rebekah Bailey, a senior Radio-Television-Film (RTF) major.

Though some of the students had mutual friends or knew of one another through varying degrees of separation, the team representing UT only had time for one pre-trip Zoom meeting but no in-person practice sessions or general team bonding before boarding their flights to the land down under. Once on the ground, they became fast friends.