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Riot Games School Clubs Take Off in Australia and New Zealand

The school clubs are rapidly gaining support from teachers, who recognize that teamwork and sportsmanship in the digital space is increasingly important. The initiative will contribute to a positive school culture while addressing important online behaviour issues.

League of Legends creators, Riot Games has launched an innovative schools project in Australia and New Zealand that aims to cultivate friendly and sportsmanlike communities that students will aspire to maintain for the rest of their lives. The High School LoL Clubs initiative focuses on the behaviors and character traits associated with good sportsmanship by helping students develop the key skills and positive mindset essential to succeeding in competitive sports environments through competitive online gaming.

“A high school LoL Club enables students to self learn positive behaviors in highly competitive gaming environments. By shaping character through sportsmanship, team strategizing and collaborative peer learning we are not just developing the next generation of gamers and eSports professionals, we are helping to create more responsible and emotionally aware digital citizens.”

Ivan Davies, Riot Games, Oceania

The High School LoL clubs are rapidly gaining support from teachers, many of whom though not necessarily gamers, recognize what teamwork and sportsmanship in the digital space can bring to driving a positive school culture while also addressing important online behavior issues. Competitive sports are already well established as an important part of the educational curriculum, and now esports are emerging as an opportunity for those students, whose competitive choices lie outside of traditional sports, to benefit from this learning experience.

“The LoL High School initiative is an incredible opportunity for schools to address many of the important issues young people are now facing in the digital age. Positive engagement, peer to peer support, teamwork, resilience, confidence, digital citizenship and developing new friendships are just some of the benefits that schools are teaching and experiencing with this exciting new opportunity.”

Dan Raisbeck, Co-Founder, The Cybersmile Foundation

The project is also being seen as a valuable contribution to the efforts being made by the video game and sports industries in their efforts to address toxic behaviour within online gaming environments. As we have seen happen before with other sports, a cultural shift is often needed to ensure survival and healthy growth. Behavioral boundaries have long been established within mainstream sports with no tolerance for racism, sexism and other toxic behaviors, a process esports are now engaging with.

Cybersmile will provide active support for the project by contributing resources for players, students and teachers – including access to our Official School Partnership program. For more information about Cybersmile and the work we do, please explore the following suggestions.

What are your thoughts about the school clubs? Tweet us @CybersmileHQ.