Thanks to the long-running partnership between PB Tech Christchurch and Esports Ōtautahi, numerous esports invitationals and tournaments are held throughout the year.
Teams from across various Christchurch High Schools and Canterbury University compete in dedicated Marvel Rivals, Valorant, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, League of Legends, and other such esports competitions to determine who has the sharpest skills.
These competitions are a great outlet for students to let loose while competing in their favourite video games.
The most recent tournament was the Marvel Rivals Invitationals – Powered by MSI⚡, hosted at the Rarakau Event Centre.
Six teams competed against each other in rounds of Marvel Rivals for the chance to win a $300 PB Tech gift card for their team, and a $1,000 donation towards their school for equipment upgrades and initiatives to help grow their esports programme.
“We had 6 teams come in here – it was really good seeing everyone come through, getting so many teams, getting such a real tournament experience for these high schoolers, as they haven’t gotten this competitive esports experience before – they might not get that same experience from sports or social sports because they might just not be involved. Esports is their passion,” says PB Tech Hornby Retail staff member Isaiah Moir.
Despite the hard-fought competition, St Bede's College emerged victorious, without a single loss to their record during the tournament. Their captain says that the $1000 prize will be invested in room upgrades, PC, keyboard, and headset upgrades for their school.
Reflecting on the win, their champion told us that “The tournament was a great experience, honestly I’ve never been in a tournament properly for something like this and it was genuinely such like a fun thing, even sitting around watching the other games, getting to just talk to my friends about this game that I really like and really love just for hours on end about what we could do even talking about strategy was fun.”
The event showcased the strong community spirit dominating the emerging esports scene in Christchurch, which the PB Tech Christchurch team is eager to see grow further in the next year.
Interested in registering your school for future tournaments or invitationals? Keep an eye on the Esports Ōtautahi website.
Additional sponsors for this invitational included AMD, Aotea Electric and Christchurch City Council.
