UAlbany Hosts Student Gamers for Empire State Scholastic Esports Invitational

A row of students compete in Rocket League from gaming PCs inside the UAlbany Esports Arena.
Students compete in Rocket League during the Empire State Scholastic Esports Invitational. (Photo courtesy of UAlbany Esports)

By Mike Nolan

ALBANY, N.Y. (Dec. 17, 2024) — The University at Albany hosted more than 100 competitive gamers from 16 area high schools on Sunday for the Empire State Scholastic Esports Icebreaker Invitational.

The tournament featured student teams competing in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Rocket League tournaments from inside UAlbany’s new 4,000-square-foot esports arena.

Opened this semester, the arena is home to the UAlbany Esports team, which is among the largest competitive video gaming programs in the country. It features 36 Lenovo Legion T7 gaming PCs, each with a 240Hz refresh rate and 1-ms response time along with two casual gaming areas and a broadcast room for students covering live esports events.

Sunday’s tournament was the largest scholastic esports event in New York, according to event organizers.

“This tournament was a great opportunity for high school students to compete, make new friends and interact with UAlbany’s gaming community,” said UAlbany Esports Director John Macone. “I’m excited to see where it goes from here as we host more public events at our new state-of-the-art arena and engage with gamers across the state.”

 

UAlbany hosts esports invitational in new arena

 

Along with Macone, members of the UAlbany Esports team were also on site to support the event and meet with high school gamers. Trophies were awarded to the top teams in each of the game tournaments.

Participating high schools included:

  • Berne-Knox-Westerlo
  • Bethlehem
  • Cohoes
  • Colonie
  • Columbia
  • Glens Falls
  • Hudson Falls
  • John Jay
  • Math, Engineering and Science Academy (MESA)
  • Middletown
  • Palmyra-Macedon
  • Poughkeepsie
  • Queensbury
  • Rensselaer
  • Troy
  • Washingtonville

“Having an arena like this on our campus is incredible,” said Henry Scholl, program coordinator for UAlbany Esports and Master of Public Health student. “We look forward to continuing to host students from near and far, offering them an opportunity to compete, have fun together and build a gaming community.”

The Empire State Scholastic Esports Federation was founded by educators to foster and support scholastic esports in New York. Its competitive league includes teams from more than a dozen K-12 schools.