NASEF becomes official esports provider of California Interscholastic Federation

The North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) has been selected by Californian high school sports governing body California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) as its official esports provider.

As a part of a three-year agreement, NASEF will work with CIF on tournaments in a range of esports titles, which will be hosted on the Ultimate Gaming Championship (UGC) platform.

Part of the World Wide Scholastic Esports Foundation, NASEF is a collegiate esports federation that aims to help students acquire STEM/STEAM skills through esports. A key aspect of NASEF’s work, according to the organisation, is to connect esports and gaming to ‘meaningful education’.

NASEF struck a partnership with the International Esports Federation (IESF) in 2021, and is working with IESF on popularising esports amongst students.

CIF is the governing body for high school sports in California. Established in 1914, CIF represents more than 1600 public and private schools of which almost 400 regularly compete in esports, according to a release.

NASEF and CIF did not provide any information regarding what titles are to be played as a part of the partnership, nor did they reveal further details beyond announcing UGC as the tournament platform.

However, the 2022 edition of the CIF state esports tournament was played in League of Legends, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Rocket League.

The California Interscholastic Foundation has an interesting set of partnerships behind it. The Foundation is supported by gaming PC brand OMEN, graphics card manufacturer nVidia, hardware and peripherals brand HyperX and the California department of the Army National Guard. CIF first partnered with HyperX in 2019.

Gerald Solomon, Founder and Executive Director of NASEF, commented:” This NASEF-CIF partnership will provide top-notch high school esports tournaments to students across California, providing opportunities to practice digital citizenship and experience positive play environments through competition.”