High schools esports tournament this weekend to decide winner of Winter 2020 League of Legends High School Scholastic Tournament, powered by NASEF in partnership with Riot Games
Jun 05, 2020
North America Scholastic Esports Federation’s video game tournament comes to exciting finale with online competition that caps off the season despite school closures
(Orange County, CA – June 5, 2020) – Students on four teams from across North America will vie for top honors in the League of Legends High School Scholastic Tournament on June 6 and 7, powered by the North America Scholastic Esports Federation in partnership with Riot Games.
The season began in early 2020 with over 280 teams competing. Through a very competitive process and playoffs, these top four teams qualified for the finals (listed in order of their tournament seed):
- Sunny Hills Lancers Gold from Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, CA
- Kitsilano Secondary School from Vancouver, BC
- AB Esports Gold from Acton Boxborough Regional High School in Acton, MA
- JCP Esports from Jones College Prep in Chicago, IL
Learn more about each team in this blog post.
Tune in to twitch.tv/nasefedu to watch the matches beginning Saturday, June 6, at 10:00 a.m. PDT. Each series will include five matches, and the first to win three wins. On Sunday, June 7, at 10:00 am PDT, live play will continue on Twitch. The exciting final matches to determine the winner are expected to start around 2:30 p.m.
This was an unusual season, with playoffs suspended for more than eight weeks as the world grappled with COVID-19 and schools stopped meeting in-person.
waived in order to enable the high school teams to maintain a strong sense of community and camaraderie among students, and to offer teens not just the chance to compete but to keep the stability of connections and friendship with peers.
“These past few months have been extremely trying for everyone as we have been isolated due to the Coronavirus. Teens are looking more than ever for social interaction, and despite what some would expect, online esports play has offered that personal connection and sense of normalcy – along with the spirit of school rivalries and tournament play,” said Gerald Solomon, founder of NASEF and executive director of the Samueli Foundation. “NASEF has offered a slate of community-building activities to support the wellbeing of our students, socially, emotionally, and intellectually through our scholastic approach to esports.”
The playoff process saw many local rivals pitted against each other, but now, NASEF’s online stage will see players from all corners of North America in intense competition in League of Legends, a game well-known for its demands of strategy, teamwork, and collaboration.
Competing teams will receive medals and/or trophies for their placement. In addition, NASEF awards grants to the teams’ schools depending on their placement, plus HyperX headsets for each school:
First Place: $2,500
Second Place: $1,000
Third Place: $750
Fourth Place: $500
NASEF seniors will be honored throughout the stream with a #SummerSendOff: messages that have been submitted from teams and their teacher/General Managers to honor graduates.
In addition, NASEF will observe an extended moment of silence several times throughout both days to pay proper respects during these tumultuous times, and to demonstrate our commitment to proactively building diversity and racial equality within NASEF, the esports community, and hopefully extending through our members to impact the world at large.
NASEF is unique in the world of sports and esports because it doesn’t just focus on the competitive gaming play aspect, but it also provides significant education on career and life skills at the same time. Beyond the Game™ challenges enable NASEF students to actively explore career skills that will help them land jobs in the industry. Winners of those challenges receive $500 scholarships and mentoring sessions with working professionals in their career of choice. Winners and their submissions will be highlighted throughout the weekend’s stream.
Learn how to start a free esports club with NASEF’s full support here. See how we connect play to career pathways here.
About the North America Scholastic Esports Federation
The North America Scholastic Esports Federation is working to ensure that ALL students possess the knowledge and skills needed to be society’s game changers: educated, productive, and empathetic individuals. NASEF is on a mission to provide opportunities for ALL students to use esports as a platform to acquire critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in work and in life. The Federation’s core values are intertwined through all aspects of education and play: learning, opportunity, community, diversity, and respect.
Under the Samueli Foundation’s leadership, the Federation is led by partners from the Orange County Department of Education, OC STEM Initiative, Connected Camps, Connected Learning Lab, UCI Esports, UCI Henry Samueli School of Engineering, and the UCI Bren School of Information & Computer Science.
Learn more at the NASEF website. Members of the press can find videos, infographics, and leadership profiles in the online press room. Join online conversations on Twitter @NASEFgg for esports updates and @NASEFedu for our education news, on Facebook and Instagram, and see matches streamed live on our Twitch channel.
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