Ben Scott

December 6, 2019

The Federation of United Schools Esports League (FUSE League) has today announced their plans to kick-start a nationwide project in Australia that focuses on providing young students with the opportunity to participate in safe, supportive and structured national esports competition while developing positive gaming behaviours and digital wellbeing.



FUSE League is a new initiative that is focusing on pushing age appropriate esport titles to kids in years five to eight at school. Australasia has of recent been treated to the META High School Esports league, an initiative focused on pushing esports to high school students from around Australia and New Zealand.



In an official press release by the Managing Director of FUSE League, Dan Martinez, he has stated “currently across Australia, countless opportunities are available for young students to represent their schools in a myriad of sporting events, academic competitions, cultural and theatrical endeavours but few, if any, of these opportunities exist for students who are involved in the largest growing sport on Earth, esports.”



“Improving the students’ level of school connectedness is so important, especially these days when we are finding more and more students actively disengaged with traditional models of schooling. When students feel connected and valued, their performance is significantly improved. By offering a diverse and popular range of co-curricular opportunities that students engage in outside of the school environment, student engagement and their sense of belonging is increased,” finishes Dan.





FUSE League have provided a brief overview on their angle to the local esports space by providing a select few bullet points,



Opportunity to engage younger gamers to represent their schools in a safe, structured and supervised esports competition.

Promotion and modelling of social inclusion, positive gaming behaviors and digital wellbeing.

Improve student engagement and connectedness to their schools through their participation in esports.





Support for FUSE League’s initiative has come from far and wide, with qualified teachers who have a deep understanding of how gaming can be used positively within their sector, put in charge of coordination of the league. JB HI-FI will also be pledging their support towards the initiative, by providing the schools involved with hardware and inviting said schools to the FUSE League Australian Finals - which is said to be help at a major esports event in Melbourne next year.



On the back of those supporting the event, local esports organisation, The Chiefs Esports Club, will also be partnering with FUSE League to help push younger gamers across Australia that are wanting to get involved with esports.



Dan Martinez, Managing Director of FUSE League, said in an exclusive statement to Here’s The Thing, “we hope to change the perception of what positive gaming can look like within the school environment through the many social benefits we have witnessed with students. We aim to educate students, teachers and parents in regards to what positive gaming behaviours look like so that students develop better digital balance in their lives while still enjoying competitive gaming.”



“Our core values of Respect, Resilience, Fair Play and Encouragement are ingrained in all aspects of our competitions, and these are passed on to our young competitors,” said Dan.



Dan spoke about how they plan to project success by stating “the success of the league will be gauged by the active number of schools who are connected in various leagues around the country. We currently have a network of ten leagues for next year, with this number expected to grow in the near future.”



More information about FUSE League is set to be released in the near future. If you wish to stay connected with any updates, be sure to follow them on their social channels.

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