Students battle for dominance at Tech Port Scholastic Esports Championship

06-04-2025

Downloadable Version

San Antonio’s largest scholastic esports event to date brought together high school and college gamers from across the nation in an exciting display of competitive gaming excellence.

Hundreds of fans watched almost 500 students take over the Boeing Center at Tech Port for the first-ever Tech Port Scholastic Esports Championship, hosted by Rally Cry and Port San Antonio and presented by The Army National Guard.

The two-day tournament featured intense competitions across popular games, including Valorant, Overwatch 2, League of Legends, Rocket League and Smash Ultimate. Teams from high schools and universities battled for supremacy in their respective divisions, creating an electrifying atmosphere inside the 3,500-seat arena.

The event built upon last year's R20 Premier League Grand Finals, organized by the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology (SAMSAT), which was already the largest high school esports tournament in San Antonio history. This year's expansion to include collegiate players and teams from across the U.S. created an even bigger competitive showcase.

Not only does gaming offer students fun and community, said Joshua Martinez, director of esports at SAMSAT, "it's an incredible way to help students develop critical STEM skills and introduces them to diverse career pathways."

Port San Antonio developed its state-of-the-art gaming center to support that pipeline, said Vice President of Talent and Technology Development and Integration Will Garrett, who took to the stage Saturday morning to wish roughly 200 competing teams well.

“Hosting events that bring bright, engaged young people from around the country to our campus is part of the Port’s strategy,” he said later. “Employers on our campus recognize the parallels between esports and the workforce skills they need: teamwork, communications skills, analytical thinking, adaptability and a broad knowledge of computing.”

Local collegiate teams included St. Mary's University and UTSA. Esports has become a critical recruiting tool for universities nationwide.

The high school competition featured strong showings from San Antonio area schools including Holmes, Warren, CAST Tech, Southwest Legacy, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Central Catholic high schools, plus Folks Middle School.

Beyond the competitions, attendees enjoyed free-play PC stations, retro arcade machines, and open Smash Ultimate tournaments. Door prizes valued up to $3,000 added to the excitement of the weekend.

High school winners:

VALORANT: CAST Tech High School
Super Smash Bros: Toffy! from Holmes High School
Rocket League: Team Snake Bytes from Central Catholic High School

Other notable finishers included:

Greg Lake from Earl Warren High School won TexSEF Undisputed State Championship in Solo Super Smash Bros.
Earl Warren High School won VANTA State Championship in Crews Super Smash Bros.
CAST Tech High School placed 3rd in the TexSEF Undisputed State Championship and HSEL Central Regional Champions in VALORANT.