Abstract:

From February to (originally) November 2021, the Esports School League Vienna was organised; including the preliminary round matches up to and including the semi-finals. Due to the COVID-19 situation, which had drastically intensified from the beginning of November in Austria, the final was postponed to 2022. This paper will recap the last months from different points of view; both from a pedagogical perspective and an organisational viewpoint. On the one hand, the paper will seek to answer questions such as, “How could esports be integrated into the daily school routine?”, “How have students and teachers benefited from it?” and “What are the challenges and opportunities?”. The authors will also analyse the personal viewpoints of participants, such as “Did the school league have a positive influence on the well-being of the students participating in such a difficult time as the Corona crisis?”, “Was it possible to arouse new passions among the students?” and “Did the students find acceptance from their peers, teachers and their parents as esports representatives of their school?”. From an organisational perspective, the authors will investigate how the school apparatus could be linked to that of the youth centres, considering that these are different administrative bodies. Furthermore, the paper will investigate the potential bridging effect of esports on children, which could actually take place free of political influence and lobbying. The findings presented in this paper will be based on interviews with participants and observation analysis of the involved organisers.

Keywords:

Esports, youth work, serious gaming, game culture.