We found Boarding’s Best Gamers 🎮

As part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Boarding Schools’ Association, Boarding’s Best Gamers were crowned following four exciting Friday evenings in November and December 2025.

Congratulations to our winners:

• Eastbourne (Rocket League)
• Bromsgrove (Chess)

Well done to our runners up:

• Bromsgrove (Rocket League)
• Sandroyd (Chess)

The BSA’s first-ever esports tournament was delivered in partnership with School of Esports and brought together students from independent and state boarding schools from around the UK.

Designed and delivered by School of Esports, the pilot demonstrated how esports can be used within boarding to develop teamwork, communication, strategic thinking, leadership, and digital confidence in a safe environment – and to encourage students to book additional nights.

Running across four Friday evenings, pupils competed online in 6-Minute Chess and Rocket League.

One school commented, “our boarders really enjoyed it; it allowed a small group of students to get together every Friday evening to relax and work together.”

BSA Director, David Walker, said:

“As we celebrate 60 years of the BSA, the tournament shows how boarding schools continue to evolve. It offered pupils a modern enrichment opportunity while reinforcing collaboration, resilience, and community – values central to boarding education.”

School of Esports Co-Founder, Andrew Butler, said:

“This pilot showed how esports can be delivered with real educational purpose. The option to progress from competition to ongoing provision offers schools a clear, structured pathway to maximise impact for pupils.”

Prizes were generously sponsored by Corsair Business.

Additional opportunities through School of Esports

Boarding schools have the opportunity to extend pupil learning through a two-hour live online leadership and careers workshop delivered by Seif from School of Esports.

Drawing on Seif’s professional journey from challenging beginnings to recognised success within the esports and education sector, the workshop uses real industry insight and relatable examples to help pupils translate esports participation into leadership, communication, resilience, decision-making, and strategic thinking. Mapped directly to the Gatsby Benchmarks, the session supports meaningful encounters with employers and careers, while evidencing strong personal development, skills progression, and positive learner engagement.

Alongside this, School of Esports also offers a structured extracurricular activity (ECA) programme for boarding schools seeking a longer-term provision. Delivered weekly and tailored to the boarding context, the ECA programme builds on tournament participation to develop consistent leadership behaviours, teamwork, self-regulation, and digital citizenship over time. This sustained model supports pupil wellbeing and engagement, complements existing enrichment programmes, and provides schools with clear evidence of ongoing skills development and impact.

Extended provision supports inspection-aligned outcomes including Ofsted (Personal Development, Quality of Education, Careers Guidance), Estyn (Wellbeing & Attitudes to Learning, Skills Development, Preparing for Future Learning and Work), and the Independent School Standards (Part 1 – Curriculum; Part 2 – Spiritual, Moral, Social & Cultural Development).

If you would like to find out more please contact info@schoolofesports.co.uk.