St. Mary's students prove gaming more than just a hobby

Students in grades five to eight from all seven elementary schools in the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board gathered at St. Mary’s College today for the city’s first-ever “Beyond the Game” Esports tournament.

Since last year, more than a dozen students at SMC have been competing on their high school’s electronic sports team — an extracurricular held during the lunch hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Those SMC students had the opportunity to mentor young visitors inside the auditorium on Wednesday as they worked on teamwork and communication exercises while experiencing the fun world of gaming.

Regarded as one of the fastest growing activities in K-12 education according to the board, Esports program coordinators Daniela Veltri and Paula Trainor sensed there was a growing demand for a citywide tournament.

“Early exposure to Esports can foster interest and familiarity with competitive gaming at an early age,” Veltri said. “It can help elementary school students develop gaming skills, strategy and critical thinking abilities that can be further honed as they progress in their academic careers.”

Veltri says Esports can inspire students to pursue higher education or careers in STEAM, including game design, computer science, data analysis, broadcasting and graphic design.

Among the highlights from today's event included an NHL23 tournament, as well as several guest speakers who came in from Sault College and Algoma University to showcase how Esports can be linked to technology at various levels.

“It’s not just about gaming,” Veltri said. “We have kids who are acting as our sportscasters, students who are interested in broadcasting and journalism — they’re acting like mini-Ron MacLeans today. We have tech people behind the scenes, students into graphic design and art. There’s a role for everyone which is what’s so great about Esports.”

Jack Francis, an SMC graduate now attending St. Clair College, actually earned a full ride scholarship to play on their Esports team. Addressing the students virtually this morning, he provided some information on his unique program and how gamers can make a career out of Esports.

For Grade 11 SMC student and avid gamer Hudson Wreggitt, that’s a pretty intriguing idea.

“They’re finally recognizing it as a job which is great,” he said. “I’ve been playing video games for as long as I remember, so the fact I can play them at school and get involved even more later on is really cool.”

“Some of the kids we worked with today haven’t even touched a video game in their life,” he added. “We’re really enjoying teaching them how to express themselves in video games.”

SMC’s Esports program is looking to take off in 2024 when their students compete in an Ontario-wide Rocket League tournament, an online soccer game with cars.

“The kids are really excited for that,” Veltri said. “We’re even thinking about doing a FIFA24 tournament for the younger ones next year as well. It’s been organized chaos, and the kids have been so helpful. Lots of team building taking place here today.”