Generation Esports, founders of the largest competitive gaming organization for high schools HSEL (High School Esports League), has announced that they are starting the MSEL (Middle School Esports League).
The MSEL will begin on September 21st of this year and will be an eight week long competition where North American middle school esports clubs can compete against their peers in six popular multiplayer online video games. The esports games that will be played are: Minecraft, Rocket League, Fortnite, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Just Dance 2020 and Mario Kart 8 DX. Winning teams will earn their schools new gaming hardware such as Nintendo Switch consoles. Fortnite tournaments will be offered free to all middle schools to try out the platform and experience esports at their school.
“We are very excited to carry over all of our accomplishments and learnings from operating North America’s largest high school esports organization and offer middle school students the same opportunities,” said Mason Mullenioux, co-founder and CEO of Generation Esports. “Whether students are eying a professional esports career or just love playing video games, the Middle School Esports League will help students excel not only in organized competition, but academically — creating opportunities to improve their skills, grades, and future prospects.”
A new esports based curriculum is being developed for middle school students by Dr. Kristy Custer and Michael Russell from Complete High School Maize in Kansas, the two educators behind the innovative Microsoft backed HSEL Gaming Concepts curriculum that shaped high school students passion for video games into academic success. Where implemented, students who toook the HSEL Gaming Concepts course saw an average of 1.4 points of GPA improvement and 95 percent better attendance.
“Middle school is often the time when school becomes challenging not only academically, but also socially for students,” said HSEL Gaming Concepts co-creator Michael Russell. “All of a sudden students no longer have one teacher and a built-in group of friends that they spend their days within the classroom. So many students struggle to find where they belong. The new curriculum will help middle school teachers bring esports into their classrooms where they can implement purposeful play with the social-emotional learning and digital citizenship that is so desperately needed.”
Registration for the MSEL Fall Major begins on August 24th. Students, teachers/advisors and existing esports clubs can register their teams at https://middleschoolesports.com. Pricing for middle schools interested in joining the MSEL begins at just $20 per student per tournament, with weekly Fortnite tournaments free to all students.
What do you think of the MSEL Generation Esports league? Will it help students the way the high school version seems to have helped? Let us know in the comments below or on our Twitter account.
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