A partnership between the Electronic Gaming Federation and the Connecticut Association of Schools is bringing esports to schools in Connecticut.
The association is the first to join EGF’s national high school esports league. The pilot season of the league begins in October and is open to all high schools in Connecticut. Additional states and cities are expected to join the league in the future, however.
Related: University of California Irvine adds Overwatch to esports scholarship program
Clint Kennedy, supervisor of innovation at New London Public Schools in Connecticut, was a major driver of the organization’s involvement in esports. Esports are an activity that “challenges our young people to collaborate, think critically, and engage persistently, even in the face of repeated failure, to achieve some level of success toward a desired goal,” Kennedy said in a statement. “I see many popular esports titles as a way to build these critical skills in hopes that we can transfer them to other domains.”
EGF’s goal is to see esports teams at every high school across Connecticut, EGF founder Tyler Schrodt told news site WTNH. “They’ll compete in weekly online and traditional matches, just like they would in traditional sports,” he said.
Both organizations are hoping that league involvement will connect students across the state with shared interest, eventually connecting students across the globe. EGF is also interested in helping educators integrate esports programs into learning environments, as well as providing “real-world experience” for participating students.
