Esports:
What is it? Esports could also be called competitive video gaming. At Otago Girls we have a long history of esports being one of the most engaged girls schools in the country. Why allow the Äkonga to participate in esports or video gaming?
The initial research on esports that Duncan Trickey did as part of his Core Education Fellowship (read his paper transcending the Gender gap in eSports) led the Kura to understand that the girls faced significant boundaries in accessing gaming and we needed to open up a space to allow students to play. This culminated in a match against Otago Boys at Otago Girls a trip to Kings to play their team and finally a match against Mangakino School in our first ever inter-island match.
We have noticed significant academic success in our students. In 2021 Erika Stuart our first ever Esports captain received the first ever Women in Information Technology scholarship for the Otago Polytechnic and this was on the back of her appearance in the PAX Conference Australia as part of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image talk on Esports and Education.
Carrin Gaspar now studying Computer Science at Otago University was our first ever Student coordinator and won two prizes in the International Code Games Challenge winning Best in Class - Written Game Design Document Best in Class - Written Game Design Document, Exploration Theme. She is still an active member of our esports community today and happily helps out.
Jenny de le Harpe won a scholarship for Digital studies in 2023 the first time one has been award to Otago Girls. Jenny was the first of the Gaspar cup for top esports student.
Our current players still have the first-ever break-out Rookie of the Year Catlin Gibbs playing in the senior League Of Legends team.
We play regularly on a Thursday with opponent across the country including St Cuthberts of Auckland (we are yet to register a win against them in two years of trying.)
Mr Trickey facilitates this league using a discord server that is monitored. The focus on the teams is in-person social gaming with a focus on good communication and team work.
It costs $10 and runs through terms 1-3. The culmination of the season is our own Otago Esports Brawl a LAN tournament that features schools from across the Region and sometimes from Auckland.
Fees
Payments for registration can be done
- online here when completing the Registration form,
- online via bank transfer using account number 12 3485 0014040 50 and putting Name and Sport as reference, or,
- by paying at the office.