In a first for New Zealand esports, a multi-esport high school league will kick off in May as part of a collaboration between local organizations META, Shadownet, and Victory-Up.
Departing from prior attempts at running national high school events which focused on a particular title, the new league will comprise of a quartet of Riot Games titles (League of Legends, Valorant, Teamfight Tactics and Legends of Runeterra) as well as Rocket League and NBA2k21.
According to Shadownet CEO Ian Seaton, bringing competitive esports to secondary school students will “rapidly grow the sporting code, and cultivate a strong sporting ecosystem among New Zealand’s gaming generation”.
“This league is going to be a pretty important way of fostering the kind of ecosystem we’re after here in the New Zealand esports industry.”
Seaton also told Snowball Esports plans for a tertiary level competition were being discussed, setting up a chain of progression for young Kiwi players to get themselves.
Getting Victory-Up involved is a crucial part of that, with the tournament’s sanctioning body making a name for themselves by delivering high school esports competitions and NCEA-accredited esports programs.
Together they’ve produced a comprehensive tournament circuit that will allow students across the country to test their mettle in some of the world’s most popular esports.
After teams have battled their way through the regional qualifiers, they’ll be invited to a national final in late August, with further details to be confirmed down the line.
Registrations will close midday on the 15th of April. Those interested can find more details here.
