Esports Victory

St Joseph's College, Banora Point won the Northern NSW FUSE Cup in the School Competitions and Individual Competition.

Congratulations to St Joseph's College, Banora Point, for sweeping the Northern NSW FUSE Cup against St Mary’s College Casino, Xavier Catholic College Ballina, McAuley College Grafton and Bishop Druitt College Coffs Harbour.

This unique school competition is a series of Esports games for different age groups, promoting fun, good sportsmanship and healthy gaming habits.

The first Esport round was Just Dance and was held at Xavier Catholic College. The students competed in heats of 3 songs each to advance to the finals. The students needed to dance their best moves using a 'Joy-Con controller' to emulate these moves where the Nintendo switch could recognise the input.

With students engaging in online gaming outside school, it would be expected that the St Joseph’s College team would have an influx of students wanting to compete against other schools. St Joseph’s College teacher, Jack Hamers said that recruiting players was much harder than he thought. This was particularly relevant for the Just Dance section. He explained that, 'students were too embarrassed and didn't realise the tryouts and training would be indoors. They were very nervous about other students making fun of them.'

For this first round of the competition the St Joseph’s College team took first place in the following:

1. Individual Champion
2. School
3. School - Division Champion

Mr Hamers said that the students beamed all the way back to school and shared their positive experience with peers, teaching staff and families.

The next round of the games will be Mario Kart, 15 July and Rocket League 7 October. Plenty of time for the students to practice healthy gaming habits.