Boise State Esports collaborated with the organization STEM Forged to host a high school Rocket League tournament earlier this month. The event took place at the downtown Boise State Esports arena. The tournament gave many high school students a chance to experience the thrills of competitive esports for the first time.
STEM Forged Goals
The Boise State Esports arena has been no stranger to supporting esports at the high school level. Boise State Esports has already partnered with events such as Esports Tower to support high school esports. However, the collaboration with STEM Forged is unique in that its organizers are looking to support local esports in Idaho. Grant Hathaway, the founder and CEO of STEM Forged, said engaging with Idaho high schools is STEM Forged main goal.
“We’re helping a lot of schools in Idaho implement high-quality esports programs,” said Hathaway. “Esports is just about to be sanctioned in Idaho at the high school level. The purpose of this tournament, and what we want to do in general, is to help pave the way for all students in Idaho that want to participate in Scholastic Esports.”
Hathaway went on to describe the specific resources Boise State offers. Most Esports tournaments can be hosted online with players competing from home. But few dedicated esports arenas exist for local schools and organizations to host tournaments at.
“Right now there aren’t really any esports arenas in Idaho like the one at Boise State. Boise State’s esports facility is one of the best in the nation. Being able to give our local students the chance to experience such an awesome dedicated space is wonderful. It really gives them an idea of how big and exciting this can be – that they should treat it with a bit more seriousness than casual gameplay with their friends,” said Hathaway.
Homecoming
The event also served as a homecoming of sorts for Hathaway who studied at Boise State University. Hathaway previously took classes under Dr. Chris Haskell who taught classes on digital culture and esports. Haskell ultimately influenced Hathaway to pursue a career in education. Now heading up STEM Forged, Hathaway ultimately hopes for the program to bring professionalism and opportunity to a new generation of students.
“Kids go into other sports with a deep knowledge of what’s expected,” Hathaway said. “The only thing that esports has at that level is playing at home. And we all know how that can go. They come into these scholastic esports programs with all kinds of baggage that can derail what would be a high-quality program. We want kids to come into these programs with the right attitude to set themselves in the program up for success.”
Written by Jacob Palmer.