Curro schools couldn’t play sport during lockdown, so they began competitive Minecraft

08 July 2020

During the height of lockdown, students at the various schools of private education provider Curro Holdings couldn’t get together to play traditional sports such as rugby hockey or cricket. So the students turned to super-popular videogame Minecraft instead.

And they’ve managed to turn a famously relaxing building videogame into a competition, with the finals of the Curro Clash Minecraft Esport League being livestreamed on 11 July.

According to Angela Schaerer, technology business relationships manager at Curro, “during lockdown esports became an amazing opportunity because learners couldn’t connect via traditional sports or clubs. The online world of Minecraft creates a perfect digital environment for learners to collaborate and play.”

The students are using the "education edition" of Minecraft, which is used across the world to help teach science, technology, engineering and maths skills.

Over the past month, Curro students from ages 9-14 have formed teams and taken part in an esports league. According to the company, 200 students of 20 teams have taken part.

The teams are asked to build a specific pirate-themed object, such as a cannon, parrot or pirate ship in thirty minutes.

The teams are then judged on a bunch of areas, such as likeness, colour, effective teamwork, and the use of space.

“To see the enthusiasm of both the learners and teachers towards this Minecraft competition has been inspiring,” says Schaerer. “To experience how these players work together to build these incredibly detailed structures is remarkable.”

The semi-finals, hosted by Sports Entertainment International, are set to take place this Thursday, 9 July. The finals will be livestreamed at 16:00 on Saturday, 11 July, and can be followed by clicking here.