On the 23rd of May, four Grade 6 students represented Silverton at the FUSE Cup Just Dance Melbourne South Division E-sports tournament and became champions amongst 6 schools and 44 competitors! You can read more about the day below.

There were a total of 11 teams where each team was made up of 4 students. The other schools that participated in the FUSE Cup Just Dance Melbourne South Division tournament were: Haileybury, Don Bosco Primary School, Wesley College, Mentone Grammar and St Peter's College. Maryama, Hayley, Kaviya and A'isha represented Silverton Primary School at the tournament. Prior to this day, the girls and many others practised to a set list of songs every Tuesday during lunch time; all wanting a chance at representing the school in what they love but having fun while doing it. Their determination to do well, despite many not having a Nintendo Switch console at home, is what set them apart from all the other competitors.



It wasn’t all smooth sailing; especially from the semi-finals onwards. The girls were up against some very competitive dancers and traded top points for most of the songs. When it comes to Just Dance, the most important thing isn't to show with your body how good you are as a dancer, but to time the movement right with your controller strapped to your right hand. The game will detect the motion and give points based on timing while students copy the dance moves of the virtual coach on the screen. Our Silverton girls were aware of this and trained each week to try and maximise the number of points they can accumulate while dancing. Although they were still having fun, Just Dance wasn't just a casual game anymore for them, it was a sport.



The FUSE Cup has run many amazing tournaments in the past that Silverton has participated in and without fail, has always dedicated time to chat with all the players about digital safety, digital wellbeing, emotional regulation and strategies for dealing with anti-social behaviour online. It is because of the FUSE Cup's values that we as a school continue to participate in their tournaments year-after-year and believe e-sports has a place in schools to help the younger generation grow up in a more safter digital environment.



Our four lovely girls from Silverton worked hard to earn their title as the team champions of the Melbourne South Division Just Dance E-sports tournament with a very small difference to Mentone Grammar who were runner's up. Maryama, Hayley, A'isha and Kaviya made sure to cheer on their teammates and dance behind them whenever it was their turn to earn points for the team. Their encouragement of each other and of other competitors during the day showed a high level of sportsmanship and the teachers at Silverton couldn't be prouder of these girls and what they achieved!



Since our team won in their division, they have now been invited to play in the state finals against all the other division winners live on the Gold Coast! If they manage to become the state champions, then the next day the girls will play in the national finals against all state champions around Australia! Furthermore, not only are we the Melbourne South division champions as a team, but one of our girls managed to become the solo champion as well during the tournament and that girl's name is Maryama! Big congratulations to the team and Maryama for their efforts and to Hayley who was the solo champion runner-up! Silverton Primary School wish you all the best of luck on the Gold Coast in the state and national finals!