The Manchester Township High School (MTHS) ESports Team revealed their new eSports Lab during a ribbon-cutting event on Tuesday afternoon. Their new ESports room, premiering $ 5,000.00 worth of donated gaming equipment courtesy of Black Rocket and Morris Hills High School! The ribbon cutting event not only reveals the new MTHS gaming room and equipment, but attendees experience a live online exhibition match between Manchester Township High School and Morris Hills High School.
During the summer of 2024, Black Rocket, a company that creates and launches curriculum focused on STEM, technology, and ESports, sponsored a competition between scholastic ESports teams. New Jersey’s Morris Hills High School was the grand prize winner of $5000 worth of equipment and technology for an ESports lab. However, the Morris Hills ESports Team already had an amazing gaming space in their building with plenty of PCs and gaming equipment. As a fellow Garden State ESports League (GSE) school, the Morris Hill’s coach, Debbi Sabatini, offered to pay their winnings forward to another school in the league that was in need of PCs and a gaming space. GSE's Chris Aviles suggested Manchester Township High School as the recipient, and the donation was excitedly accepted!
With a full set of five new gaming PCs now at their disposal, the MTHS ESports team has evolved and can accomplish more than ever. Before this donation, MTHS students played matches from home over an online connection, and communication between the team was often lacking. This disconnect also removed the elements of teamwork and social skill-building that accompany other team activities. Now that the MTHS students have new PCs and an ESports lab, students can play together in person in one space. They engage in team communication, celebrate achievements, and practice skills as a unit in a way that was completely impossible before. In addition, students with aspirations of working in the marketing, development, and other vast careers that touch the gaming industry are excitedly gaining valuable skills, insight, and networking opportunities ahead of their departure from MTHS.
The new ESports room is located on the upper level of the MTHS media center. The generous donations have allowed MTHS to take this unused space and transform it into a modest and inviting gaming space for five players. The new MTHS ESports room gives players a place to practice, play matches, do homework, and call their own during after-school hours.
Over the last four years, the MTHS ESports team has grown from a group of six students competing in online tournaments with students from across the country to a dedicated group of 30+ students and five unique seasonal teams, competing at the State Championship level against other New Jersey high schools. As a part of the Garden State ESports League (GSE), MTHS’s players have competed in nine competitive seasons so far and sit in the top 20 as they go into the State Championships this weekend, being held at Georgian Court College!
