The University of Montana is sending out a call to middle school, high school and collegiate gamers from across the state to compete in the Big Sky State Games Esports competition on Saturday and Sunday, April 1-2.

Saturday’s competition will be online in a one-on-one format so students anywhere in Montana can compete. Sunday’s events will be three-on-three and held on campus in the University Center Ballroom.

Hosted by UM and sponsored by TDS Fiber and Destination Missoula, the competition will feature Rocket League. Sunday’s competition will be broadcast live.

UM’s Grizzly Esports team also will be on hand for the weekend’s event. The growing team competes as an official UM sport – complete with scholarships and jerseys – and has boosted the University’s reputation as the best place for gaming in Montana.

Grizzly Esports includes teams for League of Legends, Overwatch 2, Rocket League, Smash Ultimate and many others. The team competes in the Gaming Den at UM’s University Center.

Michael Cassens, director of UM Esports and an associate professor in UM’s School of Visual and Media Arts, said he hopes the weekend’s competition will be a fun introduction for student participants to learn about game design and interactive media, one of UM’s newest technology majors.

“The gaming field is an incredibly fast-growing economic sector across the country,” Cassens said. “This is about having fun, sure, but it is also about introducing students to programming that can lead to high tech jobs after they graduate.”

For more information and to register, visit https://bigskygames.org/sports/esports.

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Contact: Michael Cassens, associate professor, UM School of Visual and Media Arts, 415-787-0577, [email protected].