The Socorro Independent School District engaged students ready to battle it out in the technology realm with its first-ever virtual eSports tournament during the Memorial Day weekend.

The four-team double elimination tournament was available for spectators to view via the online platform Twitch with a winner bracket and a loser bracket. After the two-day event, the Eastlake High School Aces Team A took home the championship.

The virtual tournament gave students from all the teams, including the Eastlake Aces Team 1, Socorro High School Bone Crushers and the Montwood High School Phantom Rams, an opportunity to showcase their gaming skills during COVID-19 pandemic, which has halted other sports and activities.

“We didn’t realize how important this was until we saw it on the news,” said Eastlake Aces team member Luis Villa. “Now that there are no sports going on it is our time to shine!”

The student teams competed on Saturday and advanced to another round on Memorial Day to complete the tournament.

“Nowadays, I believe dreams can be reality,” said Library Services coordinator Mary Sparks. “Video gaming has become a huge industry and I get excited to see these students strive for that greatness in their future careers… This year has been crazy, and I am so happy we could still put this together for them.”

This was the first eSports tournament SISD has had that was completely virtual. Previous tournaments were conducted with gamers and an audience together in the same venue..

This tournament on Twitch was in full spectator mode which means people were allowed to tune in with an online link.

“I am so proud to see SISD give these kids the opportunity to represent our school in a different matter,” said Eastlake High School librarian Kara Baker. “Many of them haven’t necessarily had an outlet like this before and they earned their spotlight… even more as my inaugural team.”

Published June 15, 2020

Strategic Direction: College and Career Readiness