GAMERS at Solihull School have set their sights on national success after a successful run at the inaugural British Esports Association schools’ tournament.
The six-strong team showed off their skills and potential by dominating the showpiece event, which was a pilot stage to highlight the upcoming British Esports Championships for schools and colleges.
Esports is a fast-growing, worldwide pastime where teams compete against each other at computer games such as Fifa 17, Overwatch, League of Legends and Project Cars 2.
The team won five out of six games in their matches against Westminster Academy, London; King Edward’s School, Bath; and the Peele Community College, in Lincolnshire.
Vanessa Patel, the school’s head of ICT and computing, said: “We were very excited to take part in this pilot competition for the British Esports Championships, so to win it was extra special.
“Congratulations to the team, they all played superbly and I can’t wait to see what they achieve next.”
The Solihull School team starred Adhi Ahuja, Emma Roberts, Zak Chohan,Ned Goodman, Sean McHugh and Dhilan Patel.
The youngsters agreed it was a terrific experience and stressed the positive benefits of video gaming and the skills needed to be successful.
Ned said: “Having this as a competitive event actually helps us to channel our gaming into something productive.
“Playing games such as these helps develop a sense of teamwork and helps sharpen certain skills like depth perception and reaction speeds.”
Teammate Zak Chohan added: “We already have competitions that are sporting or academic, well this is something new and the students like it – it’s really popular.
“We’re not playing it too often, so there aren’t really any negative effects but there are quite a lot of good sides.
“It helps with hand-eye co-ordination, reaction speeds and teamwork skills, so there’s a lot of positives.”
Now, the high-flying team is keen to push for more glory and capture the biggest prize of all – the prestigious British Esports Championships crown.
The competition, which is open to the nation’s schools and colleges, is a marathon event. It begins in September and will run throughout the academic year, with the grand finals in August 2019.
