Playing Games with Their Futures: Ken Garff Esports’ SLCC Invitational Shows High School Competitors a Path to Higher Ed
With two NJCAA national titles in Hearthstone and several podium places in other games, Salt Lake Community College’s esports program typically makes news on a national scale. In December, the program made a more local impact by hosting regional high school students at the SLCC Invitational, the third tournament of Ken Garff Esports’ Invitational Series. Each of the series’ tournaments are hosted by different institutions of higher ed around the state, including three universities (Utah Tech, Weber State, and Utah Valley) and SLCC, with the series culminating in March at the University of Utah with statewide playoffs. Normally, the SLCC Invitational would only include Salt Lake County schools, but this edition was expanded to also include students from Utah County. In total, 24 high schools sent teams to compete in “Rocket League,” “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe,” “Super Smash Brothers Ultimate,” and a coding competition in which students compete using Python, HTML, and Scratch to program ...