British Esports Championships Spring Division to return next week, with sign-ups still open

Adam McGowan

4 min read | 17 Feb 2021

February 17th 2021, London: The British Esports Association has decided the Spring Divisions of the British Esports Championships will recommence with the first fixtures on Wednesday 24th February.

The British Esports Championships is a national competition where students aged 12+ compete in League of Legends, Rocket League and Overwatch across Winter and Spring divisions.

Following the format changes for the 2020/21 season, at the end of last year 61 schools and colleges from across the country battled it out in the Winter Qualifiers. But with the ever-changing circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision was made to temporarily put the Spring division on hold.

Today, British Esports officially announce that the Spring Divisions will recommence after February half term – with teams playing remotely from home.

After surveying participants of the Championships, the majority of schools and colleges were able to continue to participate remotely during lockdown. British Esports staff also spoke individually with teams that would struggle to participate remotely to offer advice and support.

As before, the Championships will primarily be PC-based and include the following games:

• 5v5 League of Legends: multiplayer online battle arena game (PEGI 12 age rating)
• 6v6 Overwatch: a vibrant first-person shooter (PEGI 12)
• 3v3 Rocket League: football with rocket-powered cars (PEGI 3)

Teams that played in the Winter Qualifiers will be split into divisions based on their spot on the leaderboard at the end of the 2020 fixtures. New teams are also able to join the Championships at this point.

Schools and colleges can register for the Spring Divisions here, with the final deadline being 5pm GMT on Friday 19th February.

To see what teams have been placed into each of the divisions, visit the overall Winter Qualifier leaderboards for Overwatch, Rocket League, and League of Legends.

During the Winter qualifiers, Championship matches were broadcast regularly on the British Esports Twitch channel and pulled in 60,000 unique viewers, with 1,600+ average viewers watching teams battle it out.

For the Spring Divisions, matches will continue to be broadcast live every Wednesday from 4pm GMT on Twitch – with one of the three titles being featured each week. On the 24th February, Rocket League will be the first title to be broadcast.

The Championships 2020-21 grand finals will take place online for this year, and be streamed via the British Esports Twitch channel. The safety of the participants in the Championships is paramount.

Press Contacts

If you have any questions surrounding the Championships, please contact School and College Liaison Officers Elliot Bond (eb@britishesports.org) and Alice Leaman (al@britishesports.org) for more information.

Alternatively please send through your query to champs@britishesports.org.

About the British Esports Association

The British Esports Association is a not-for-profit organisation established in 2016 to support and promote esports in the UK.

As a national body, its aims are to foster future British talent, increase the awareness of esports and provide expertise and advice. It’s focused on the grassroots level of esports and is not a governing body.
The Association helps educate the masses – including parents, teachers, media and government – around what esports is and what its benefits are. Its three goals are to promote, improve and inspire.

www.besports22.wpengine.com