Orange County is going to start looking a lot like Summoner’s Rift in 2018.
In early November, the Samueli Foundation launched the Orange County High School Esports League, a collaborative effort designed to encourage students’ interests, cultivate leadership and develop a greater community, all while promoting STEM learning and workforce opportunities.
“Online platforms like esports are the new social gathering places for kids,” shares Gerald Solomon, executive director of the Samueli Foundation. “We hope to turn this into a STEM learning and enrichment program that will help students grow their STEM interests and skillsets. These will be needed for success in the future workforce
The inaugural year will feature Riot Games’ League of Legends. Beginning in January 2018, students will compete in weekly matches in a Swiss format for eight weeks, leading up to the finals in April 2018.
Under the Samueli Foundation’s leadership, UCI Esports has joined forces with Orange County Department of Education, OC STEM Initiative, Connected Camps, Connected Learning Lab, UCI Henry Samueli School of Engineering, UCI Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Science and Alvarez & Marsal.
Registration continues until December 11, 2017. For registration information and more, visit ochighschoolesports.org!
Game on, Orange County!
