Telkom hosts inaugural High School Esports League tournaments

Esports have changed target generation multiple times. From being built for scientists in labs to being primarily for teenagers in arcades to cheap home consoles for younger kids…now video games are for just about everyone and anyone – but many titles are primarily for older teenagers or even adults based on their age restrictions.

Colleges have caught up to esports long ago, with varsity esports teams being more common than ever. Now it’s time for high schools to catch up, and Telkom is leading the charge. Telkom has just announced that its inaugural VS Gaming High School Esports League tournament is going to take place at Comic-Con South Africa.

© Vamers | Comic Con Africa

It will be in connection and partnership with HSEL or the High School Esports League. Two games will be covered in the event: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2. The qualifiers for this event have already taken place and the teams that qualified are: Paul Roos Gymnasium, Westville Boys High School, Parklands College and Oakhill School.

Of those, Westville Boys High School and Paul Roos Gymnasium each qualified for both games, whereas Oakhill School and Parklands College qualified for CS:GO and Dota 2 respectively.

The VS Gaming event is going to be held again next year and it is also open to schools that aren’t part of the HSEL… they can contact them on [email protected] to register, with the date for registrations starting on the 24th of September 2018. It’s far too late to register for this year’s event of course.

“This is an exciting initiative for both Telkom VS Gaming and the HSEL. Not only are we broadening our scope of gamers, but we are also doing this in a responsible and committed manner by working closely with the HSEL. The fact that the finals will take place at the inaugural Comic Con Africa is an added bonus for all gamers involved,” says Wanda Mkhize spokesperson for Telkom VS Gaming. “This platform will also give scholars a great opportunity to play alongside the best players in South Africa.”

Tyrone Green from HSEL adds: “As the HSEL we are very excited to participate in the Telkom VS Gaming HSEL. As the largest online league on the continent, this partnership is massive for the high school league and its players. We are hoping that the success of this league will take us to greater heights in the future.”

This event is a pretty important step as esports on the African continent aren’t half as wide-spread as they are in other places. Of course, they centre around North America and Asia, especially when it comes to locations of tournaments. With this, this might change and lead to a more widespread net of events that allow players from new areas to join in on the esports fun! At the moment there are very few if any pro players from the African continent – the untapped potential there is rather exceptional!