Introducing the Team Liquid Esports After-School Club, powered by DAIGON

A student who loves gaming should be able to find a team at school, just as a student who loves football or music can.

Today we are announcing a partnership with Team Liquid, one of the most successful organizations in esports, to make that possible for more schools. Together we are launching the Team Liquid Esports After-School Club powered by DAIGON, an esports program for elementary and middle schools across the United States. It will be offered through school districts and after-school providers, beginning with a pilot in four California middle schools.

At a glance

• Who — DAIGON Esports and Team Liquid.
• For — elementary and middle schools across the United States, through districts and after-school providers.
• Runs on — Minecraft Education Edition, on devices schools already own.
• Starting with — a pilot in four California middle schools.

Why most US schools still can’t offer esports

Students are already gaming. What has been missing is a structured way to do it at school.

For many US schools, offering esports has meant buying gaming PCs, finding a teacher who knows the games and fitting live matches into a crowded timetable. For younger students, there are added questions around age suitability and safeguarding. As a result, structured esports in the US has mostly been available to high schools that can afford a dedicated room and a specialist coach.

DAIGON is built to remove those barriers.

How the club works

The program runs inside Minecraft Education Edition, on supported devices schools already own. There is no gaming lab needed to get started.

We take the mechanics that make esports compelling (team roles, tactical choices, shared objectives, competition and repeated attempts to improve) and turn them into original quests on custom Minecraft maps. Training sessions build toward scored leaderboard challenges. Every school plays in the same environment, and clubs compete on their own schedules, so nobody has to line up live matches across different timetables.

Instructions are built into the game, so the game guides the session. A teacher or after-school staff member manages access and supervises. They do not need to teach gaming techniques or become an esports coach.

Why we partnered with Team Liquid

Since 2000, Team Liquid has built some of the most successful teams in esports. Highlights include two Dota 2 world championships at The International (2017 and 2024) with different rosters, the fastest Intel Grand Slam in Counter-Strike history, and four consecutive LCS titles. Today it competes across major titles, with facilities in Los Angeles, Utrecht and São Paulo.

Few organizations understand better what turns talented players into winning teams, and the answer is rarely mechanics. Controlling the game quickly and accurately is the price of entry. What wins is the callout at the right moment, the read nobody else saw, the reset after a lost round and the creativity to find a different way through.

Those are the same skills students will need in an AI-driven future, as education shifts from knowledge-first to skills-first. They are the skills our program has always been built around. Team Liquid brings the authority to show students why they matter, and a team they recognize and want to be part of.

“Every student deserves a place to belong and a chance to build skills through something they love. A school should not need a gaming lab or a specialist coach to offer that. With Team Liquid, our ambition is to make esports accessible to every school, so more children can discover what they are capable of, inside the game and beyond it.”

— Elliot Mack, Co-founder and CEO, DAIGON Esports

Why Team Liquid is bringing esports into schools

Team Liquid has been hearing from schools and education organizations asking how they can bring its world to their students. It already works in education, including its collaboration with Lawrence Technological University. Elementary and middle schools need something different: a program ordinary staff can run, on technology schools already have, with a clear purpose beyond playing the game.

“We want more students to experience esports and the skills that make great teams. DAIGON understands what schools need to make that possible: a program that staff can deliver, technology that fits the school environment, and a clear purpose beyond playing the game. Together, we want to make that experience accessible to elementary and middle schools across the United States.”

— Işık Aysev, SVP Commercial, Team Liquid

Blue Knights in training

What separates champions has always lived inside professional teams. Now it is open to every student, including the ones who have never set foot in a gaming lab.

Students join as “Blue Knights in training” and form squads that have to communicate, adapt their plan, bounce back from setbacks and find creative solutions. Along the way they build the four parts of their “Skills Armor”:

• Communication
• Critical thinking
• Resilience
• Creativity

Both students’ scores and their skills are highlighted throughout the program. A beginner has as much of a place in the club as an experienced player, and the student who loves gaming but hasn’t found their place in sports or other after-school activities has a team to join.

For many of these students, it will be their first direct connection with a professional esports team. Not as fans watching from the outside, but as Blue Knights earning their place through their own squad, their own challenges and their own progress.

Starting in California

Our model is already used by schools in more than 40 countries, from after-school clubs to the School Esports World Championship. The first US clubs are in four California middle schools, through an after-school activity provider. Over the coming months we will be listening closely to students, staff and our delivery partner, learning what works in real US after-school settings and using it to shape what comes next.

What’s next

• Skills benchmarks — resilience and problem-solving benchmarks will launch during the school year, using in-game tasks to make student progress visible alongside competitive scores.
• More quests — the quest library will keep growing, highlighting the mechanics of different esports titles.

The timing also lines up with a proud moment for our team. Yesterday (October 14), DAIGON was named a Shark Tanks @ EdTech Week category winner for K–12 Innovation, and today (October 15) we pitch in the Shark Tank finale here in New York.

Bring the club to your schools

If you lead a school district, run an after-school program or work with elementary and middle schools in the US, we would love to talk.

Book a call or email elliot.mack@daigon.gg. Journalists can find the press release, fact sheet and images in our press room.