York College among winners in national esports championships

York College were winners of the Esports @ Bett Student Championships held at Bett UK 2024, an educational technology event in London last month.

The students showed off their competitive gaming abilities in live Rocket League tournaments.

Rocket League is a sport-based video game that sees players, as part of a team, drive a football toward their opponents’ net from behind the wheel of a rocket-powered car.

The teams comprised three students aged 14-18 years old.

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Ken Merry, acting principal and CEO, from York College, said: “We were very pleased to learn of our esports team’s victories at the Bett UK 2024 Show.

“It was a brilliant opportunity for our students to demonstrate their Rocket League talents, building on their second-placed standing at the midway point of the British Esports Student Champs season.

“York College is proud to run a Level 2 Diploma and Level 3 Extended Diploma in Esports and recognise how the industry continues to grow with the potential for those on the course to progress into an apprenticeship, higher education, or on to a multitude of career pathways.

“We’d like to congratulate the team and our course leader, Tyler Wilson, on the performance in London and look forward to following their progress during the rest of the academic year.”

Organisers said the tournament, hosted in association with the British Esports Federation, aims to highlight the potential of esports in driving student engagement, supporting accessibility in classrooms, and nurturing soft-skills and interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers.

York College saw off their competition from Guild College and the Academy of Contemporary Music, both in London, and Sunderland College.