- Centennial Schools has announced the winners of three esports scholarships following the hosting of a recent tournament.
- Over 200 entries were received, and only the top 25 students were permitted to compete.
- The top three performing students walked away with scholarships to the tune of R300 000, R200 000, and R150 000 respectively.
At the end of January this year, Centennial Schools announced that it would be handing out three esports scholarships to talented Grade 6 to 8 learners who excel at esports titles in particular via a tournament.
Said tournament happened recently and now Centennial Schools is detailing how the event went.
For three learners in particular, namely Jamie Twidale, Kyra Harris, and Zacree Wessels (pictured above) who placed first, second, and third respectively in the tournament. Twiddle earned a R300 000 scholarship, while Harris got R200 000, and Weasel’s received R150 000.
The school notes that this year’s event was its most competitive to date, with over 200 entries received, and only the top 25 students taking part in the tournament. The competition required the students to showcase their skills in a variety of titles including Overcooked 2 and Minecraft.
“It was a fantastic result, and a testament to the growth of our school and the interest of students wanting to be part of a school that focusses on eSports. We incorporate eSports and gamification into our lessons and the fact that we have the (good) problem of a massive waiting list for next year’s competition means that our students are interested in being part of this environment,” added Nkuli Gamede, principal of Centennial Schools in a release shared with Hypertext.
“I played my heart out for this, and I did really well in most of the games. I was a bit surprised I won because I did not prepare too much, schoolwork took up most of my time. This was an amazing tournament,” added first place winner Twidale.
With Centennial Schools having handed out more than R1.5 million worth of esports scholarships to date, it will be interesting to see whether other institutions see value in the growing competitive gaming segment locally, especially as it is anticipated to reach R400 million in revenue this year.
“The reason we introduced a competition like this, is to innovate in the education sector to focus more on skills such analytical thinking, fostering collaboration, and creativity. These skills are the ones our children need to face the world of work in the 21st century,” added Shaun Fuchs, founder and CEO of Centennial Schools.
[Image – Provided]
