La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor recently announced their new partnership with The Metro Sports & Entertainment Group, also known as Metro Esports, a Warminster-based digital sports and entertainment media company which uses gaming as a medium for tech education.
The company will introduce an esports program for high school students which will feature varsity teams competing in various interscholastic competitions, leagues, and tournaments.
“In our digital era, it’s vital to offer our youth opportunities that align with their interests,” emphasized Metro Esports Director of Events, Zach Archer. “Our partnership with La Salle College High School underscores our commitment to shaping the future of esports and technology education, recognizing the growing community of technology enthusiasts. Metro Esports is proud to play a pivotal role in nurturing and shaping the local gaming landscape and building an impactful integration into the LSCHS community.”
There will also be junior varsity (JV) teams, weekly events and Metro-supported open play sessions during and after school hours. Students will be invited to take roles for club officers, organizers, and enthusiasts in spearheading events, initiatives, and programs.
“While competition of any sort promotes individual drive, goal-orientation, and a sense of affiliation among high school students, these are not the exclusive or even the principal values our partnership with Metro Esports will support,” Brother James Butler, FSC, the President of La Salle College High School, said. “Esports have become a field of professional activity like athletics, with many different career avenues available to the interested and prepared student. Because they require continuous creative development and technological innovation, Esports offer the interested student opportunities to use multiple intelligences, promoting both personal growth and an avenue for life-long professional success.”
Colleges and universities are increasingly offering esports scholarships, and La Salle College High School students will be exposed to diverse career pathways in the gaming business, design, and development.
The high school will also offer a new Introduction to Esports course in 2024-25, as well as students an option to enroll in the Metro Esports Certification Program.
Surprise Concert for “Mr. C”
In related news, the La Salle community recently gathered for a surprise retirement concert for Mr. Joe Ciccimaro ’57 which included performances from former students from Broadway and current colleagues in the music department.
Former music students Frank DiLella ’02 (11-time Emmy Award winning entertainment journalist and on-air personality for NY1 News) and Hugh Panaro ’82 (a leading Broadway actor who has played The Phantom in over 2,500 performances of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s The Phantom Of The Opera) also announced The Forrest Theater in Philadelphia has dedicated a plaque in his honor in their orchestra pit.
Affectionately known as “Mr. C,” Joe Ciccimaro began his journey at La Salle in 1953 and graduated as a member of the Class of 1957. In 1968, he returned to his alma mater to assist with the musical production of Bye Bye Birdie and was eventually hired as head of the Music Department.
Over the next five decades, Mr. C created the best music program in the Philadelphia area. He started the program with 12 musicians. Today, over 400 students (more than a third of the school’s enrollment) are actively engaged in the music program.
For more coverage, you can click here. You can watch the full concert for Mr. C below:
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Photos: LSCHS