— A Gaming Tournament to Help Struggling Bands With Fundraising
KANSAS CITY, MO – Generation Esports (GenE) — a global community-focused esports organization and tournament platform — is pleased to announce the success of its “Battle of the Bands” pilot event, priming the initiative to roll out to schools nationwide in January 2021. “Battle of the Bands” invites schools with bands and music departments who have been unable to fundraise due to the restrictions imposed by COVID 19, to take part in large scale gaming tournaments where funding is awarded as prize money to winning schools. The pilot “Battle of the Bands” event, which took place in December 2020, saw over 400 students and 25 schools take part; the winning school was Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School in Greenville, South Carolina, with over 40 students who signed up to participate.
When rolled out nationwide starting January 26th, “Battle of the Bands” will take place monthly, allowing students to earn points for their schools. Winners will then be decided based upon total school wins and will receive funding and gift cards to support their band departments and other school programs. Nationwide kick-off takes place in January 2021.
“2020 has hit most fundraising initiatives hard, but we hope with this program we can help schools who are feeling the pinch,” said Mason Mullenioux, co-founder and CEO of Generation Esports and HSEL. “It is the hope that with this initiative, we continue to bring awareness to schools and school administrators who are unaware of the opportunities esports can bring for their students, especially within higher-need communities.”
He continued, “The Generation Esports “‘Battle of the Bands’” initiative is the start of something bigger for its participants, allowing them to directly affect their school’s educational offerings, engaging them with their education pathway to college and their future careers, regardless of their economic background, race, religion, gender, or disability. In these times, educators are discovering video games and esports as a vital tool in social learning and social engagement between students. Generation Esports will not only be inclusive but equitable for all students, administrators, and schools because we believe gaming is the pathway.”
As well as the national rollout of ‘Battle of the Bands’, January will also see other ways that students can engage with this initiative through virtual pep rallies, social media marching TikTok contests, and live virtual workshops hosted by video game and tech organizations. Further details about the Generation Esports “Battle of the Bands” initiative can be found here: https://generationesports.com/botb.
In 2020, GenE partnered with a multitude of organizations to lower the barrier for student competitors to engage in esports. Past and present partners include the Army National Guard, ASUS, Aim Lab, Intel, the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE), the Varsity Esports Foundation (VEF), Zaxby’s, and others.
To learn more about GenE, please visit https://generationesports.com.
For the latest news and updates from Generation Esports, like the organization on Facebook at https://facebook.com/joingenEsports and follow on Twitter @joingenEsports, Instagram, and TikTok. Fans can also join the official GenE Discord and subscribe on YouTube and at Twitch.tv/GenerationEsports.
About Generation Esports
Created by the founders of High School Esports League (HSEL) — the largest and longest-running competitive gaming organization for high school students in the United States — Generation Esports (GenE) serves communities across the world that wish to better engage today’s youth. GenE believes that Esports is more than just video games; it’s competition, community, engagement, and relationship building. With over 3,100 partnered schools and 100,000 participating students within its HSEL alone, GenE makes it easy for communities of all backgrounds and ages to offer competitive esport experiences to their members. To learn more, visit https://generationEsports.com.
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