10-Year-Old from Los Angeles Wins First-Ever Minecraft National Championship

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Julien Wiltshire, a 10-year-old student from Los Angeles, has been named the first-ever Minecraft National Champion after defeating over one thousand players nationwide in Super League Gaming's inaugural in-theater competition. Playing one of the world's most popular games, Wiltshire (also known as "SuperKraft11") topped the Super League Leaderboard by earning points in custom game mods that tested players' creativity, critical thinking and teamwork over a 6-week season in 40 U.S. cities.

On Friday, Super League presented Wiltshire with the coveted Super Bolt trophy and $5,000 scholarship prize.

The first competition of its kind, Super League's Minecraft National Championship attracted Minecraft players from Anchorage, Alaska to Miami, Fla. to compete in 40 different auditoriums of the top movie exhibitors in the U.S. — Regal, AMC, Cinemark and iPic. Wiltshire, a fifth grade student from Pacific Palisades, Calif., and his team competed at the AMC Santa Monica 7 in Santa Monica, Calif.

"Julien's skill, creativity and teamwork during this season was amazing to watch and we couldn't be happier to name him our first ever Minecraft National Champion," said John Miller, Chief Visionary Officer of Super League Gaming. "As parents, we are always searching for activities that are super fun and super educational. Kids across the country have fallen in love with competing for the Super League National Championship. The league format teaches teamwork, sportsmanship, and other social skills; while playing Minecraft has proven to give kids an edge in math, science and computer technology." 

The championship award ceremony took place on Friday, Dec. 18 at Wiltshire's school, Seven Arrows Elementary, in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Fellow students, parents and staff gathered to congratulate him, as well as his teammates on his Seven Arrows Elementary Team, who won a collective $10,000 team scholarship prize.

"I really didn't know what to expect when Julien started this league. I think we all hoped he would do well and enjoy it but we had no idea there was this potential for him to accomplish so much and go so far," said Victoria Wiltshire, Julien's mother. "It's been a great learning experience for him and I know he plans to continue developing as a player. As a parent, I'm thrilled he gets to have so much fun doing something he enjoys so much."

"We're very proud of Julien and his accomplishments both as a student here and in his extracurricular activities outside of school," said Margarita Pagliai, Head of School, Seven Arrows Elementary. "Many of our kids play Minecraft, and when they heard about this new after school league they jumped at the chance to compete. It's wonderful that there's this opportunity for them to play with others across the country. It's truly a unique experience and there is plenty of data that shows how Minecraft can help with STEM principles."

Super League's next season is set to begin on Feb. 2 in over 80 cities across the country. Players can sign up now for this newly designed 4-week Minecraft session at SuperLeague.com, where they can invite friends to create their own teams or join an existing one.

To see a complete listing of participating theaters or purchase tickets, visit: www.SuperLeague.com

About Super League Gaming
Super League Gaming (https://superleague.com) is the world's first and biggest interactive video game league that takes place in movie theaters worldwide. Bringing gamers of all ages together for a social, face-to-face gameplay experience on the big screen, Super League is establishing theater auditoriums as the ultimate place to play some of the world's most popular games and compete to climb the international Super League leaderboards. The phenomenon started in Santa Monica, Calif. in the summer of 2015 hosting "theater mode" events (with the top 3 exhibitors in the U.S.: Regal, AMC and Cinemark) and the No. 1 game in the world, Minecraft. Super League is rapidly expanding its game library and reach to theater chains globally.

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