Esports move Making a on the rise

Esports is now a legitimate sport and co-curricular activity at St Andrew’s, and is a great outlet and formalised, properly supervised activity for students who enjoy gaming, says Teacher in Charge, James Jenkinson. “It has been fantastic to see the strong numbers of students sign up to Esports as a co-curricular activity and we hope to grow these numbers further, as competition grows locally and nationally. Esports is a rapidly growing global industry, and was included at the last Commonwealth Games for the first time in the competition’s history.”

James was instrumental in setting up the Esports programme in 2021, when the St Andrew’s College team had great success, being crowned the inaugural Canterbury Esports champions, and winning the South Island title. In 2022, they finished seventh in the South Island.

New Zealand Junior Chess Congress for junior players aged under 20 last year. “Gavith is a key member of the St Andrew’s A team and is a positive mentor and coach for students in the Chess Club. He uses his experience to come up with interesting puzzles, variations on openings, and middle and end game tactics, to help students learn the whole gamut of chess play.”

The two St Andrew’s College chess teams had great success in 2022, winning both the A and B Divisions in the Canterbury Interschools Chess Championships. “All of the players from last year are back in 2023, and many if not all of them have improved, which bodes for another successful year of chess for our teams,” says Conrad.

Richard Holstein, whose son, Thomas Lindstrom plays Esports at St Andrew’s, is highly in favour of it being a formalised co-curricular activity. “For those students who don’t fit or feel comfortable in the regular sporting and Physical Education environment, Esports provides a valuable alternative where they can learn many of the same skills. Teamwork, strategy, creativity, and problem-solving are all part of it –and like any sport, doing really well requires dedication, commitment, and some sacrifice.”

As well as continuing to grow the competitive side of the Esports programme, James says the focus this year is on having a dedicated space in the College to run training sessions. “We are focused not only on improving individual skill sets, but also to help students find the right screen/ offscreen balance alongside how to ‘fuel’ themselves in a healthy way.”