GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP – Twenty-two of the best high school and middle school esports teams in New Jersey will play for a state championship 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 20  at Stockton’s Campus Center as part of the Garden State Esports Spring Finals.

Six state champions will be crowned in Valorant, Victoria Valorant, Super Smash Brothers and Rocket League. In addition to the competitions, there will be educational sessions for parents, a virtual dodgeball tournament and a walkup Omega Strikers showdown.

Garden State Esports is a nonprofit founded by educators as the organizing body for scholastic esports In New Jersey.  One of the educational sessions will focus on collegiate esports with coaches addressing the challenges and opportunities that come with playing at the next level and some opportunities for collegiate esports scholarships.

Stockton has made a name for itself in the esports community thanks to the success of its Rocket League team, which finished second in the Collegiate World Championship last year and will compete again this year on June 2-4.

Also, starting this fall, the university will become the first public institution in New Jersey and one of a handful of schools in the country to offer an undergraduate degree in esports with its Bachelor of Science in Esports Management program.


Nanette LoBiondo Galloway

Award winning journalist covering news, events and people of Atlantic County for more than 20 years.