Somerset E-Thletes power on
Virus can’t stop school’s Spartans keyboard warriors
WHEN COVID-19 wiped out the winter sporting calendar at Gold Coast school powerhouse Somerset College, just one team sport was able to continue without a hitch.
The Somerset Spartans ESports team has attained a level of celebrity at the Mudgeeraba campus in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown.
The 27-strong club finished the 2019 League of Legends video game season in third place out of 48 schools to compete in the statewide 10-week tournament.
In 2020 the players are striving to better that result and learn more about themselves in the process.
“We’ve coined the phrase ‘E-Thletes’ at Somerset,” headmaster Craig Bassingthwaighte said.
“The program started two years ago with some students who were really exploring this area, then we had a couple of great staff who jumped in and wanted to assist. All of a sudden it took off.”
Students with little interest in the school’s mainstream sporting offerings have found their own niche to develop team culture and represent their school colours through the E-Sports team, coach Philip Shapcott said.
“It’s about bringing kids together and giving them the opportunity (to participate) because a lot of them don’t identify with traditional sports but they have a passion for this,” he said.
“We thought, if they’re not
engaged with sports, what else are they engaging in?
“If we can get them engaged in something they are interested in, they can get the sporting benefits of being part of a team.”
Somerset’s Dean of Information Technologies Lisa Thomson said embracing students’ passion for video games was essential to helping teach moderation and balance.
Members of the highflying E-Sports team say the challenge and camaraderie of team play have helped them through a difficult time for students this year.
“It’s probably the only thing that kept me sane during lockdown,” said Cameron Bryan.
Teammate agreed.
“I like E-Sports because you get to play as a team and
Daleep
Bains
it’s fun to play friends,” he said.
“It’s entertaining, and challenging, and in lockdown it kept me going.”
Fun and games yes, but the growth of E-Sports as an industry to date is impressive.
E-Sports generated $1.1 billion in revenue worldwide in 2019 and is on track to better that figure this year as one of the only sports to continue unaffected by COVID-19. with your