Gaming as a SPORT: Expanding Opportunities for Students to Belong and Compete through eSports

Fall means the start of a new sports season! Tryouts are held and a roster is set based on player interests, abilities, and team needs. Practice schedules are created. Preseason matches occur then come regular season games and tournaments; the team works towards Playoffs and has the ultimate goal of making it to Finals. Fans attend to root for the home team and players hope for college recruiters to see their skills and potentially offer scholarships. The competition is tough, but skillful strategizing and teamwork can lead to a big win and open doors for future opportunities.

Nope, this isn't describing the upcoming football season -- this is a look at the new Fall eSports Season! As much as video games seem like a just-for-fun activity, this past time is becoming recognized as a varsity level sport in addition to Generation eSports being selected as the exclusive sponsor for the University Interscholastic League (UIL).

Two Eaton student going head-to-head in the Smash Ultimate Grand Finals.

Depending on the streaming requirements of the game being played, students will either use the designated Alienware PCs or their own gaming devices, such as Nintendo Switches. 

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• Almost 1 Billion awarded in eSports Tournament Prize money in 2021 alone
• Gamers have opportunities to play in front of college recruiters and win scholarships
• Kids can turn a passion into a career in the gaming field
• The 2022 High School eSports League (HSEL) National Championship is hosted in our own 'backyard' at eSports Stadium Arlington
• eSports has competitors across several continents. The Google Map below shows the competitors at the world, national, state, and our own local level for HSEL competitions for the Spring 2021

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"The purpose of eSports is to provide opportunities for ALL students to have a platform to acquire critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in work and in life as outlined by the NISD Profile of a Graduate" - NISD eSports Code of Conduct

Students at Eaton High School, Northwest High School, and Steele Early College High School participate in eSports Clubs as part of both casual and competitive teams. Student leaders on the various campuses coordinate with their game-based team on practice schedules and upcoming goals for league games.

Students at each of NISD 's high school eSports programs have top-of-the-line gaming PCs from Alienware including the PC and device peripherals such as Alienware mice, keyboards, and headsets.

Popular games on NISD campuses play games include Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Overwatch, Valorant, Rocket League, and League of Legends offered through either the High School eSports League or the PlayVS league; because students have the opportunity to complete in two different leagues, this increases their opportunities for tournament play and competitions to enter. Students communicate game preferences and teams are formed based on student numbers and interests. For example, Super Smash Bros compete in teams of 3 whereas Valorant complete in teams of 5 and Overwatch in teams of 6.

Did you know? Eaton High School had teams compete in PLAYOFFS of different games in each of the past two years!

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Why is eSports an important program? 

What skills are kids getting as a result of their involvement?

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All of the NISD eSports clubs are welcoming new students. Show up and we will find a place for you to belong!

Get more through this NISD blog eSports: More Than Just Fun and Games and by exploring the NISD eSports Code of Conduct.

Esports: More Than Just Fun and Games

Einstein said, “Education is not the learning of facts, but training the mind to think.” Teaching
students how to think and how to succeed helps develop those “soft skills” we all frequently hear about as students transition out of formal education. These time tested skills are not just another educational trend or revolving initiative. Characteristics like communication, integrity, empathy, professionalism, time management, responsibility, teamwork, and critical thinking are things that contribute to our social and emotional development and they are what helps us, as humans, to be able to successfully adapt to a variety of situations. What many educators differ on is how to go about facilitating the development of these skills and characteristics in our students.

One way to develop these skills is in the growing realm of esports. It is a relevant place that can not only support Social Emotional Learning initiatives, but it can also facilitate many of those soft skills we want students to gain. In fact, the mission of the North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) is “to provide opportunities for ALL students to use esports as a platform to acquire critical communication, collaboration, and problem solving skills needed to thrive and work in life.” Esports does not just facilitate gamers getting together to play video games, but alternatively, it ensures “that ALL students possess the knowledge and skills needed to be society’s game changers: educated, productive, and empathetic individuals.”

Mr. Fidel Sanchez, a science teacher at V.R. Eaton High School, is leading the charge to establish Eaton’s very own esports club. To the inexperienced gamer, this new club seems like a fun break for students from the regular grind of a traditional learning environment. However, it is way more than it appears on the surface. Esports is projected to become a billion dollar industry in the next year and not just due to hosted events that resemble what you might see at the Super Bowl or World Cup Soccer. Esports has the potential to help a large number of students access college through NCAA scholarship opportunities and related career paths. The Eaton esports group meets twice a week to practice and develop a very complex and impressive skill set. The goal is to build a team that can compete interscholastically for large scale academic recognition, scholarships, and career opportunities.

Michael, a sophomore on Eaton’s team, explains that he loves to participate not only to have fun but also to have the opportunity to be competitive at something he enjoys. He and his teammates, Andy and Larry, feel that esports helps them to develop better communication skills. Parker, a junior orchestra student, agreed that participating in esports has helped him to “be more social” and build the skills necessary to positively interact with others. Kameron, a sophomore team member, agreed and explained that the communication students learn through esports is different than most socialization and in order to be successful, one has to be able to “stay calm during competition and communicate professionally with their teammates to build trust.” He pointed out that “unprofessional communication does not help teammates to believe in your ability to deal with challenges,” which is important for a team to be successful. Beau is a freshman student on the team who says that there is no place for students to “be toxic or to fight with other players.” All the students agreed that participating in esports encourages them “to stay on top of their grades and to prioritize” because maintaining the level of skill needed for competition takes at least an hour or two of practice each night.

These Eaton students hope to see this activity grow larger among younger audiences here at EHS and across the country. They recommend that for anyone interested in getting involved in esports to “just start playing.” They suggest spending time learning about various roles, different strategies, and “champions” (characters) in games like League of Legends or Super Smash Bros. and to work to develop the style of play for their role and “champion.” These students also suggest finding adults like Mr. Sanchez , who are just as passionate about gaming to help them organize and advocate for resources and opportunities necessary for their club’s growth.

21st Century Reflection

Students are taking chances and deeply reflecting at Gene Pike Middle School. In Mrs. Fitzgerald's class, her students were given one task: start a blog on Blogger and share about something you find interesting. Since all NISD students have Blogger accounts through their Google account, Mrs. Fitzgerald had them utilize this platform to ease them into the reflective world of blogging. From that simple direction, students took the initiative to begin a web-based chronological log of their thoughts outside of class. They began blogging  about everything from a project they did for a class to collections of music from their favorite video games. The students began writing, creating videos and embedding them into their blog.  Mrs. Fitzgerald is the librarian at Pike and her class is open to all 8th grade students.  This assignment was able to meet each student at their own level. They have all taken ownership over their blogs and have begun curating in numerous ways.

One of the students, Carlos, decided that he wanted to make his blog about how to defeat different levels of various video games.  He knew that his audience would enjoy learning how to get through the levels.  Since this is a blog, it is still a work in progress and you can check back later to learn even more from Carlos.

Carlos's Blog

As their blogs began to take shape, students participated in a feedback session with classmates and their teacher. Students were encouraging each other to explore topics that they can blog about.  The students are currently working on a way to embed their blogger page into their ePortfolio.

To extend the depth of their learning Mrs. Fitzgerald has encouraged the students to customize their ePortfolios as well. Alexa has begun this process. She is also one of our NISD Advocates at GPMS.  She has taken her ePortfolio and used it to help students and parents learn how to navigate through Google Sites. She is using this platform to reflect on herself as a learner and to give insight into who she is as a member of a thriving community.

Alexa's ePortfolio

Students at Gene Pike Middle School are blogging into their future!