We are excited to announce the launch of Mayer Lutheran’s first esports team. Esports is one of the fastest growing high school and college activities. Hundreds of colleges are offering scholarships for students to compete on esports teams, including Minnesota State University Mankato and several of the Concordia University system schools.
The goal of esports is more than just having fun while playing video games. We want to foster the same character building environment offered by traditional athletics. Esports is an excellent vehicle for students to practice good sportsmanship, learn team cooperation, develop decision making skills, and respond positively to constructive criticism. This will also be a great way for students to safely socialize and build lifelong friendships.
We are partnering with the High School Esports League (HSEL) to organize our matches and tournaments. HSEL is currently the largest esports organization and offers the largest selection of competitive games. For our first year we will be offering the following games for students to compete in: Rocket League, Super Mario Smash Bros, Hearthstone, NBA2K20, Madden 20, Minecraft, Fortnite, and Overwatch. Students will be able to pick and choose which games they want to compete in as their schedule allows.
HSEL offers four tournament seasons in a year and students have the opportunity to compete in all four seasons if they choose with a single registration. Matches will be played after school in the STEM room Monday through Friday. The STEM room will have gaming computers, TVs, and consoles available for students to use.
In a typical week we are anticipating that students will spend one or two days after school in the STEM room to compete and practice for their game(s). The game schedule is flexible and will allow students to participate in esports alongside any of their other activities.
If you know your student would like to participate in esports with us, you can register online. The activity fee for esports will be the standard $245. As our students will be representing the school while they compete, they will be subject to the academic eligibility policy and required to abide by our code of conduct during competitions.
If you or your student have any questions about this program, please contact Ben Schulteis or Matt McClintock.
