The Digital Schoolhouse school esports tournament regional qualifiers are around the corner.
IT solutions company XMA has signed up to support Digital Schoolhouse in its second year running the National Esports Tournament, and will provide British-built Viglen desktop PCs for schools to use throughout the competition.
Over 2,000 students are taking part in the tournament overall, which is focusing on Overwatch, with over 20 schools competing for a place in the grand final this spring.
Esports professionals will also host ‘play with the pros’ sessions for students, allowing participants to play against and network with those in the industry.
The four regional qualifiers will take place in Belong Manchester on March 6th, Staffordshire University on March 7th, Belong Bristol on March 12th and Belong Kingston on March 13th.
The grand final will be part of the London Games Festival, and the winners will take home a bespoke handmade trophy, designed and produced by UK games studio Creative Assembly.
“Games are now leading the way in the UK’s creative industries, yet many young people still do not realise it’s a viable career option.”
Andrew Oakley, Creative Assembly
You can view the full list of teams and sign up to attend the events here.
Last year’s Digital Schoolhouse esports tournament (which centred on Rocket League) was won by St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy school.
Shahneila Saeed, programme director for Digital Schoolhouse, said: “It’s exciting to see so many schools getting involved in this year’s esports tournament. The events will be a great chance for students to network, improve their teambuilding and problem-solving skills and ultimately have exposure to a wealth of careers available to them.”
Andrew Oakley, lead technical artist at Creative Assembly, who designed the unique trophy with his 16 year old daughter, Molly, said: “Games are now leading the way in the UK’s creative industries, yet many young people still do not realise it’s a viable career option.
“I designed this trophy with my daughter, Molly, who is an aspiring artist, and we hope this event will go on to inspire many more school children to pursue creative careers.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
