A week to learn what eSports are.
This is how we could summarize the experience that QLASH lived from Monday 8th to Friday 12th July, within the eSports Master Week organized by H-Farm.
During the first two days ten young people aged 16-20 participated in the course and received a general smattering of the eSports world. Afterwards QLASH took over the reins and led them through the discovery of a specific title, one of the most played MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games in the world: League of Legends.
The three days of 6 hours of work each were structured to alternate teaching and practical activities, so as to maintain reasonable loads for the participants, both cognitively and physically.
Wednesday was dedicated to the introduction of the mechanics and dynamics of the game, followed by a practical demonstration by two QLASH pro players, in this case Gabriel "gabbo" Olivieri and Lorenzo "demon12" Marzi. The day continued with the presentation and explanation of a mechanical training to learn the dominant structures of the game and a personalized game among the students, to stimulate communication and team building.
On Thursday, the boys met the figures of the eSport coach and analyst, represented respectively by Alessandro "Sekuar" Sesani and Andrea "Ryu" Fadini. The intervention of Sesani and Fadini also served to explain what a Vod Review is, a revision of a competitive match aimed at improving an aspect of gameplay. Later, almost an hour was devoted to a transversal training cycle to develop adaptable skills such as multitasking, eye-manual coordination, timing reaction and the structuring of a logical path for in-game choices.
The day ended by dividing the boys into pairs and having them produce a Vod Review of their choice, taken from the League of Legends national championship; the students then presented their papers and considerations to the rest of the class, which responded in a participatory way to the observations.
Finally, the figure of the caster was introduced on Friday, thanks to Roberto "kenrhen" Prampolini. On the last day, an internal tournament was also organized for the participants, divided into two main phases: first a 2Vs2 group stage, from which they were seeded for the 1Vs1 Winner / Loser Bracket stage. The finals, as well as the Grand Final, were casted live and broadcasted on a giant screen with the participation of all those present.
The day continued with a 1vs1 showmatch between two QLASH pro players, Gabriel "gabbo" Olivieri and Matteo "Cohle" Faoro, and ended with a live casted showmatch between the course participants, with their parents as spectators.
An educational experience, both for children and for teachers, which has shown once again how videogames, and eSports, can represent not only a pastime and leisure, but also an opportunity to grow on a personal level and to increase their skills.