Centennial Schools win big at Dubai eSports Festival

Four Grade 7 learners from Centennial Schools in Sunninghill have made history in Africa by triumphing over local, continental, and international competitors to emerge victorious in the Minecraft Tournament at the Dubai Esports Festival (DEF).

The founder of the school, Shaun Fuchs, said their investment and integration of gaming into the curriculum and the largest eSports arena of its kind in Africa, has yielded phenomenal results for its learners.

Read more: Esports competition held in Sunninghill

This is the second year that the school rewarded eSports scholarships to high-performing learners, with its recently concluded 2024 tournament placing its first young girl in the top three.

“Teaching gaming in schools helps students to solve problems, think critically, and collaborate and communicate. Gaming can be beneficial in supporting computing education subjects, and the development of business, digital and cyber skills, and digital literacy. With the backing of RGB Gaming, our students have been able to strategically plan, execute, and game their way to victory against top schools in Africa and the Middle East, and we are incredibly proud of their accomplishments.”

Travis Faber, Zacree Wessels, Jamie Twidale and Thomas Williams kicked off their impressive winning streak by emerging victorious in a national tournament sponsored by RGB Gaming, a local eSports management and development company dedicated to promoting the growth of eSports at both school and post-matric levels.

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The team then went on to win against schools from six African countries in the RGB partnered Redstone Royale Minecraft challenge. They won vouchers for a gaming shop in the Dubai Mall and clothing.

“Being a student at Centennial Schools has really helped me succeed in gaming. The supportive environment and the focus on balancing schoolwork with other activities have taught me how to manage my time and stay disciplined. The way the school encourages innovative thinking has also helped me develop the correct skills I need for gaming,” said Travis Faber

Fuchs said, “With the backing of RGB Gaming, our students have been able to strategically plan, execute and game their way to victory against top schools in Africa and the Middle East, and we are incredibly proud of their accomplishment.”

He said that eSports promotes character development in the same way that traditional team-based activities and sports do. “Playing online games builds resilience and encourages risk-taking. Gaming pushes you to fail, try again, fail, and try again. Our eSports curriculum is teaching our students how to win and lose with grace, just like any other school sport.”

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