AdaplaY, a London based esports competitive platform, is expanding its reach to secondary schools with an Esports league dedicated solely to secondary school students. The company aims to “create an inclusive, safe and secure environment in which young people can play competitive video games,” starting with Rocket League and Fortnite.
Essentially, it’s creating dedicated tournaments where school students go head to head against another school. It’s an interschool tournament for esports. Each tournament will boast a prize pool of £500 with competing schools paying £5.99 per student to participate. Other plans include a £30 seasonal pass and a £50 annual pass.
Not just that, the leagues will also teach essential life skills such as collaborating with peers and finding partnerships. Students are expected to make their own team and promote them via local channels or join a local team. Furthermore, they’ll collaborate, communicate and coordinate on their own. The firm has recently pushed back its Autumn season start date to October 27 due to requests by students and teachers, highlighting the programme’s popularity despite only recently launching. All plans include a 4-week free trial where embers are NOT required to enter their card details.
On Twitter, Adaplay commented: “Due to overwhelming demand from students and teachers asking for an extension to the beginning of the Autumn season, because the Covid-19 pandemic has made the beginning of the school term more challenging, we have decided to start the Autumn season on October 27.
“There’s no more time for more players and schools to sign up and get involved in the fun.”
The tournament organiser is one of many firms looking to boost grassroots esports in the country with a variety of organisations, such as the British Esports Association and Ukie, allowing UK student participation in tournaments.
Esports finding a place in formal education was once a pipe dream that’s finally becoming a reality. Thanks to a boom in esports, the genre is gaining formal recognition.