The Adelaide Football Club has won the rights to run a high school esports competition that is the first of its kind in Australia.
The High School League of Legends Australia and New Zealand Championship is expected to attract thousands of young gamers, with every high school eligible to join the tournament.
Following the acquisition of Legacy Esports in May 2017, the Crows’ esports division is continuing to expand with this historic announcement.
A new and exciting esports business called High School Esports League (HSEL) has been created by the Club, in association with partner Bastion Live, to provide a professional tournament platform for students to form League of Legends teams and compete against other schools in terms two and three.
League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena computer game which blends the speed and intensity of a real-time strategy game with role-playing game elements.
Two teams of powerful champions, each with a unique playstyle, battle head-to-head with the goal of destroying the opposing teams ‘nexus’ in the base, protected by other defensive structures.
The Club has partnered with Riot Games Oceania, the publisher of League of Legends, to run the Championship alongside High School League Australia and New Zealand.
HSEL will manage the Championship across four states; South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania as well as the Northern Territory.
State and regional winners will advance to the Australia and New Zealand Championships to be held in September 2018, where a sole winning high school team will be named.
Partner Bastion Live is part of the Bastion Collective, a multifaceted Australian agency covering strategy, creative, public relations, activation, content, sponsorship and promotions.
Bastion Live itself partners with a variety of teams, franchises and other associated assets across sports and entertainment, and is a strong supporter of esports through their acquisition of leading esports team Avant Gaming.
Bastion will leverage its professional and national marketing network to grow and promote the league and will take a lead on growing partnership revenues.
HSEL’s other inaugural partner is the University of South Australia.
One of Australia’s highest ranked young universities, UniSA is committed to promoting enterprise and innovative learning opportunities.
A leader in IT education with degrees in gaming and entertainment design, the University will provide educational and research capability to the competition.
Adelaide Football Club’s Chief Operating Officer Nigel Smart said that given the growth of esports worldwide, starting HSEL was an important step to take.
“Connecting Australian high schools to the expanding global esports ecosystem is something we felt was really important. Esports has undergone extraordinary growth in recent years and is hugely popular with kids and young adults,” Smart said.
“It’s great to be able to connect students around Australia to such a large-scale Championship where they can engage in something that is a passion point for them, and in a competitive but supportive school-based team environment.
“We think that will be really exciting for them.”
The Championship will not only give youth the opportunity to explore a popular passion in a structured system, it is a chance to form relationships and sharpen skills.
“In gaming, players have to apply skills such as problem solving, analytical thinking, teamwork and comprehension,” Smart said.
“Skills that the students learn in the game will be transferable into everyday life.”
HSEL is also pleased to announce the appointment of Woody Wu as its League Commissioner.
Wu previously worked for Riot Games running community and university tournaments across Australia and is looking forward to the opportunity.
“I’m pleased to be at the helm of the HSEL and I’m looking forward to building the most exciting high school tournament platform in the world,” Wu said.
High School Esports League will open registrations on Friday, March 23 and they will close on Wednesday, May 23.
Registrations can be submitted via the HSEL website.
The Championships will get underway on Monday, May 28.
