Esports: Selwyn College face big challenge against Mt Roskill Grammar

Selwyn College have a big challenge ahead of them in this week's round of the HSL.

At 2-2 they've had a mixed start to the split and will meet the undefeated Mt Roskill Grammar School in tonight's televised game that will air on Sky TV at 5pm.

Selwyn are a young side of Year 11 students who will be a team to watch in the coming years.

Graeme Holden, a maths teacher at Selwyn, is in charge of esports at the school and he said his team were ready to take on the big guns.

"They aren't very eager to go against the finalist of last year, but I think we are quite excited to play on television," Holden said.

"They think it would be a good experience to go against one of the strongest teams in the league."

Holden acknowledged it was a tricky beginning to the season for his inexperienced team.

"We had a bumpy start, but I think we gathered ourselves after playing a couple of games."

Beating Mt Roskill will take a herculean effort but Selwyn will try and throw some different tactics at them to put them off their game.

"We plan to bring out a mix of meta and unconventional picks and try to play around bot lane since they are the most experienced out of everyone in the competition."

Selwyn are 10th in the Auckland section of the Premier HSL division of 13 teams, while Mt Roskill top the standings.

Mt Roskill have clear goals for 2018 and they are the only unbeaten team during this split.
Danny Chang is the teacher in charge of esports at Mt Roskill and said the interest has continued to grow at his school, reflecting their success.

"We want to add another crest onto the shield," he said.

In the section featuring schools from the rest of New Zealand, Canterbury's Christ's College have made an unbeaten start to the split with four victories from as many games.

There's a handful of teams at 3-1, including Tawa College and Wellington College.

The second-tier Challenger Division is split into three groups across the country.

Mount Albert Grammar School 2 and Manurewa High School have both started 4-0 and are atop the standings in the first group.

In pool two, the Mt Roskill Challenger team lead the way having started 4-0. Inglewood High School 1 have also delivered a perfect beginning in the third group.

Following this week's round of matches the HSL will take a break during the school holidays before restarting on Monday, April 30.