This event is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Epic Games, Inc,

New Zealand Secondary School Esports

Welcome to New Zealand Secondary School Esports the official secondary schools esports competition in New Zealand.

Dive into the world of esports by competing against schools from across the country every week. Build new friendships, engage with students and join the positive wellbeing gaming movement!

New to esports?

2023 Registration

Fortnite Format:
Trios No Build on Tuesdays
Trios Build on Wednesdays.

Registration must be completed by the teacher in charge. You can use the form below to collect student information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes! For the 2023 academic year our delivery partner, Te Papatipu Matihiko is working with local government and funding groups to subsidize entry fees.

However, your school may still choose to charge fees to cover costs of uniforms, team managers, and travel to the national tournament in Christchurch. 

There is none!

Esports isn’t about the money, and this competition is your opportunity to have fun, make connections, and compete for pride and glory while representing your school.

We may introduce non-cash prizes in the future, but our first priority is on a fun competitive experience.

We hope so! We’re working really hard to organise a venue for another epic live final to follow up from last year and we will post updates as soon as this is confirmed.

We take into consideration several factors when choosing the games to include each year in NZSS Esports.

  • Accessibility
    • We love games that are free to play and available on multiple devices so whether you have a custom build gaming PC with an RTX 4090, a PS4 or a humble mobile phone – you can still compete!
  • Publisher Permission
    • Every game has a publisher or developer who has invested a lot of time, money and effort into building the games you love. We include games from publishers who have given us their trust and permission to include their games.
  • Esports Enabled
    • We include games that are designed with competition in mind that help us deliver fun and smooth competitive experiences.

If you feel there are games that meet all of these requirements that you’d like to see included next year, reach out to us or write to the publisher and let us know! We’re always working hard to include more titles every year.

Yes. Your registration must include the contact information of a valid teacher in charge who is aware of the competition.

If you feel a team has cheated during your match, please open a ticket in the competition discord, or notify your match admin.

If you would like to make a complaint about a team, player, admin, teacher or tournament organiser, please go to https://www.nzesports.org.nz/complaints-help to submit a formal complaint.

  • Games are live now and progress to the end of Term 3.
  • No games will be played during school holidays.
  • Games start at 5PM on the designated game night
  • Your detailed draw can be found in your registered email, or in the NZSSE Discord

Of course! There is nothing stopping your school from competing in multiple esports competitions.

However it’s important to know that NZSS Esports is the only official and regulated competition supported by the NZ Government.

This competition was created to ensure that student competitors can compete in a safe environment where their only interactions are with police vetted and trained officials, student data is not sold or mishandled, and the competition is not run for commercial profit.

If you are going to compete in a commercial league, look out for the Accredited Tournament Organiser badge to make sure the operator is an experienced New Zealand operator.

Each game has a ruleset (which will be available on the 24th of March)  that includes the game settings that must be followed on competition night. If you are being asked to play on different settings please notify an admin before the start of the match.

All important information will be sent out via email, but we recommend you join the official Discord channel for the most up to date information.

There is a place for competitors to interact, and private channels for teachers to connect and help us improve the competition in the future.

Luckily, for Fortnite or eFootball you only need one player to compete!

For Rocket League, you can ask to join another school near you with written permission from the school you will be representing.

What is NZSS Esports?

NZSS Esports is the only official esports competition for secondary schools. We provide an inclusive and protected pathway for students to compete in esports, with a focus on physical, digital, and social wellbeing. Supported by NZ Esports, Sport NZ, and School Sport NZ, NZSS Esports offers a non-commercial and safe competition for students to develop their skills and promote the positive aspects of gaming and esports.

The story behind the NZSS Esports Logo | Te tohu motuhake o NZSS Esports

The NZSS Esports logo features a shield, symbolizing our commitment to protecting the wellbeing of our students. The mangōpare, or hammerhead shark, represents unity and progress, as we strive to develop and improve together. Within the centre crest, two taniwha face off against each other, embodying the fierce competition of esports. However, when viewed as part of the larger image, the taniwha merge together to form a single face, representing our unity and togetherness outside of competition

NZ Esports Guilds

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New Zealand has six guilds, and when participating in NZSS Esports, you’ll represent the guild corresponding to your main school campus location.

At the end of Term 2, the top 12 teams receive invitations to the national championships. Remaining teams will compete within their respective guilds, with the top 2 teams from each guild also securing invitations to the national championships.

Our committment to protect students

We believe that our tamariki and rangatahi have the right to compete in a safe and protected environment that is free of abuse, prejudice, exploitation and commercial interests. Esports is a new and rapidly growing space and by choosing to participate in official New Zealand Secondary School Esports, parents, schools, and caregivers can rest assured that their children are protected.

We are committed to our duty of care to protect the safety and wellbeing of children. To achieve this, we work closely with game publishers, New Zealand government organisations, and local esports organisations who share our values. Together, we support the long-term growth of esports in New Zealand schools without compromising the safety and wellbeing of our tamariki and rangatahi.

New Zealand Secondary School Esports has comprehensive child safeguarding protections aligned to the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989. These unique protections include NZ Police background checks, protecting student privacy and information from commercial third parties, comprehensive training for all staff, volunteers, and contractors, and partnerships with specialized child protection services and expert local organizations.

For more information about our child safeguarding protections, please see our full resources below.

Legal

This tournament is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or otherwise associated with, Psyonix LLC. The information players provide in connection with this tournament is being provided to the tournament organiser and not to Psyonix LLC.

This event is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Epic Games, Inc

Event Host

Delivery Partner - Te Papatipu Matihiko

2023 Game Titles

Major Sponsors

Accessibility Rating

4.5
4.5/5

Upcoming Match

Coming soon.

Upcoming Calendar

Coming soon.