– Group picture of all teams, teachers and referee
– Two teams competing for the final victory and first place
On 1st of July 2019, the last school week in Styria (a state of Austria) before the summer holidays, the final of the “eSports Schulliga Deutschlandsberg” took place. 24 pupils from three different schools fought for important points in the overall ranking in the titles OVERCOOKED 2 and ROCKET LEAGUE. In the end, the team “WeAre2Good4You” prevailed in the decision-making match against team “Spicy”. The participants aged 10-14 years were obviously having fun and increasingly asked for a sequel.
2nd school league in Austria
Maria Gruber, a teacher had the idea of the school league in the district of Deutschlandsberg. Inspired by the viennese “Schulliga Floridsdorf” with more than 140 pupils, she wanted to realize the concept on a smaller scale in Styria. Her ambitious teacher colleague Philipp Ferrari from another school nearby was quickly convinced to get involved. Both decided to ask ESVÖ – austrian esports federation for help. They were able to win Yvonne Scheer (ESVÖ, Women’s Representative) for this project. At the end of April, a meeting and basic concept were found.
Maria, Yvonne and Philipp decided the videogame titles OVERCOOKED 2 and ROCKET LEAGUE together. In both titles, the pupils played against each other in teams of two. OVERCOOKED 2 is a cooking simulation game that aims to put together recipes in a virtual kitchen. The teams receive points for properly served menus. ROCKET LEAGUE, on the other hand, is a sports simulation. In an arena, the oversized ball should be placed into the opponent’s goal by cars. Both games are considered to be very user friendly and easy to learn. In addition, both titles are marked with PEGI 3.
Qualifications: more than gaming
Each school had the task to provide teams of 4 pupils – in which at least one person from the other gender had to be represented. In the first two qualifications the students had the opportunity to learn the games OVERCOOKED 2 and ROCKET LEAGUE. The third qualification was used to support the team dynamic and the pupils had to design a team shirt or a team poster together, off screen.
At the end of the qualifications, Yvonne Scheer, esports player, esports referee and women’s representative of the ESVÖ gave a lecture on “esports and gaming” in one of the schools. She also mentioned the IESF World Championship, international and national leagues. All 6 final teams attended. In addition to the pupils, teachers and the headmasters were also present. The present people were able to ask her about national and international esports.
The grand final for the little ones
The final took place under great conditions. Yvonne coordinated the tournament and was the referee on site. The two best teams of the three schools competed against each other in the two titles. After a close head to head race for the first two places, Team “WeAre2Good4You” was able to win the last match. Thanks to the sponsors, all the children went home with prizes. The “eSports Schulliga Deutschlandsberg” was a successful event that made the young esports fans happy in the last school week.
We all agreed that it is important to support the young generation of esports players and fans. We will focus on doing more events like this in the future!
