Today, high school esport organization HSEL (High School Esports League) has announced that they plan to double the amount of games they support in the coming winter season. HSEL has been growing rapidly for the last year as an opportunity to allow high-schoolers to participate in a competitive sports environment in what they love: videogames. To advance esports in educational institutions, the organization has added games such as Call of Duty World War II (PS4), Injustice 2 (PS4), Rainbow Six Siege (PC), Paladins (PC), and Smite (PC) to their game list.

All of these are very popular games among the videogame community, with games such as Smite having a playerbase of nearly twenty million. By broadening the horizons to games such as these it may lead to a massive surge in player growth for the organization.

Aaron Hawkey - Chief Operations Officer (COO) of HSEL - has said that the purpose of this move is “to allow player diversity within HSEL; to encourage people of all sorts of gaming aptitudes, ranging from standard first-person shooters to strategy MOBAS (Multiplayer online battle arena), to feel like HSEL allows them to pursue their interests.”

The weekly schedule of games from HSEL with the added game changes is planned to look as follows:

Mondays - Overwatch, Rocket League, and Smite

Tuesdays - League of Legends and Call of Duty Call of Duty World War II

Wednesdays - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Injustice 2

Thursdays - Hearthstone and  Rainbow Six Siege

Fridays - Paladins

Saturdays - League of Legends, Call of Duty World War II, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, Rocket League, Smite, Hearthstone, and Rainbow Six Siege

Sundays - Paladins and Injustice 2

HSEL is also employing prize pools for these games to add another level of competition for players. The official details of the prizes have yet to be released; however it is expected to include scholarship money for colleges. To also increase community engagement, HSEL is planning to stream league play of these games on the internet streaming platform: twitch.tv.

If you are interested in joining HSEL, contact a teacher in your school who is willing help you with the creation of the club. Then try to find other people in your school who are interested in the club and recruit them. Once you do that, you can visit 
http://www.highschoolesportsleague.com/partnership-application/ and request to be partnered by HSEL. If you have any questions regarding the creation of a club, you can email partner@highschoolesportsleague.com or visit the website and start a live chat with the support team.