The Boise State Esports Arena filled to capacity over the past weekend. Over 100 students participated in the ICCU Esports Kickoff, which served as the official kickoff for the Idaho high school esports season. Idaho Central Credit Union sponsored the event. ICCU also is a sponsor of Boise State’s Esports program.
The exact number of students competing was 130. These students competed in 5 different games including esports mainstays like Overwatch and League of Legends. Over 100 matches were played over the course of the weekend. Amoung the high schools competing were Bishop Kelly, Blackfoot, Boise, Burley, Highland, Meridian Tech, Middleton, Nampa North Star Charter, Thunder Ridge, and Twin Falls.
Dr. Chris Haskell, head of the Boise State Esports program, was present for the competition. Moreover, Dr. Haskell was most impressed with the sheer amount of students who made the journey to the arena to compete in person. Dr. Haskell said the massive amount of in person competition was crucial to fulfilling the main goal of the event.
“The goal of the ICCU Esports Kickoff was participation, the ‘win condition’ was kids playing games,” said Dr. Haskell. “It was less important to have a ‘winner’ and more important to have lots of games.”
Written by Jacob Palmer.
