At a time when some traditional sports arensa国际传媒檛 being played due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is coming to B.C. secondary schools.

says it will begin the rollout of e-sports, or electronic sports, in high schools this fall, in partnership with Vancouver-based company .

Trial play launches with the team-based strategy game at BCSS member schools.

An initial sa国际传媒渆xploratory trial competitionsa国际传媒� among schools will take place on the GameSeta online platform. The games will be streamed live on Twitch for an online audience , according to a news release sent Monday (Oct. 23) by GameSeta.

sa国际传媒淲ith this partnership and our unique technology, Canada will have its first scalable high school esports solution that priorities Canadian student data and privacy protections,sa国际传媒� stated Rana Taj, GameSeta president and co-founder.

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E-sports is a sa国际传媒済reat optionsa国际传媒� for schools as they look to provide participation opportunites for high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Tawanda Masawi, GameSetasa国际传媒檚 CEO and co-founder.

sa国际传媒淥ur value proposition continues to strengthen during COVID-19, which explains our oversubscribed waitlist from schools across provinces in Canada,sa国际传媒� he said in the news release.

, said the organization is sa国际传媒渢hrilledsa国际传媒� to partner with a B.C.-based company in GameSeta, founded in 2019.

sa国际传媒淓sports is a new frontier for BCSS but credit to our Board of Directors who felt it was important to explore every option on how to engage students with their school,sa国际传媒� Abney said in the GameSeta news release. sa国际传媒淭here is a mountain of evidence to suggest good things happen to youth when there is a sense of belonging, responsibility and community in their school. If we can bring that to students who wouldnsa国际传媒檛 normally participate in school sport, then that is a great thing for our member schools.sa国际传媒�

League of Legends, among the worldsa国际传媒檚 most popular video games, was sa国际传媒渢he preferred choicesa国际传媒� among BCSS membership, Abney said.

sa国际传媒淲e appreciate itsa国际传媒檚 a 5v5 team-based strategy game (that) will offer many of the same teaching and growth opportunities that any traditional team sport would.sa国际传媒�

Yearly, BC School Sports offers interscholastic competition in 19 different activities to more than 70,000 students in Grades 8 to 12.

Nearly 200 colleges in the U.S. and Canada are actively recruiting and offer scholarships for e-sports, the news release says. Also, sa国际传媒渃ompanies within the esports industry are looking to hire those with experience across multiple aspects of gaming.sa国际传媒�

In a biography, GameSeta said it partners with school bodies and associations sa国际传媒渢o deliver safe and inclusive esports competitions while also developing problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills in students.sa国际传媒�

For the e-sports trial, interested schools are asked to fill out and email it to bwhyte@bcschoolsports.ca by no later than noon on Nov. 4. The cost to participate in the trial invitational will be $29.99 per student.