Game Insider Game Insider We Happy Few Cover Issue | Page 40

by Sarah Schwartz
Education Week
GAMERS ARE THE
NEW HIGH SCHOOL
ATHLETES
THE
RISE
OF
SPORTS
A
my Whitlock’s varsity team at Oswego East High School in Illinois is a state champion.
Whitlock, a French teacher at the school, leads her students in practices three times a
week. They review footage of competitions, strategize for upcoming games, and
scrimmage to prepare for future events. But the students Whitlock coaches are involved in
a form of sports much different from traditional high school athletics. They are playing
League of Legends—one of the most popular video games in the world of esports.
Esports, a movement that features competitive video game play that grew out of the commercial
gaming industry, is popular at the college and professional levels. Now, it is gaining a greater foothold
in K-12.
The High School Esports League, an online league that allows club teams to participate in
tournaments, has 15,000 students on its platform representing 800 schools nationwide, said Mason
Mullenioux, the CEO of HSEL, an online gaming company based in Kentucky.
More organizations and companies are looking to enter the space and capture a new generation of
players. PlayVS, a tech startup, just announced plans to start an official national league this October in
partnership with the National Federation of State High School Associations, the governing body for
high school sports and activities.
“It is a lot more like an athletic team and a lot less like
hanging out,” Whitlock said of the students who
participate on her varsity, junior varsity, and beginner
esports teams. “I think it’s going to explode.”
Some teachers and administrators have found that
esports engages students who might not otherwise
participate in school activities, teaching teamwork and
potentially opening new college and career opportunities.
At the same time, school leaders are grappling with some
of the darker aspects of gaming culture: addressing toxic
language, concerns about the violent nature of gameplay,
and persistent equity issues in esports.
National and State Leagues
Esports is a far bigger phenomenon than a few players
with headsets gaming in their bedrooms, said Nyle Sky
Kauweloa, a teaching assistant and Ph.D. candidate at the
University of Hawaii at Mānoa whose research focuses on
competitive online gaming. He said it is a growing
industry.
Professional leagues have publicity teams and
commentators, and have seen investment from NFL team
owners. At the college level, more than 475 schools offer
club teams and about 50 offer esports scholarships,
according to the NCAA. The Paris 2024 Olympic
organizers are in discussions to include esports as a
demonstration sport, and it will be included as a medal
event at the 2022 Asian Games.
“The spectatorship numbers are huge,” said Kauweloa.
Twitch, the online streaming platform that broadcasts live
videocasts of games, has a larger viewership than HBO,
Netflix, and ESPN, according to market intelligence firm
SuperData Research.
Though there are several national and state-level
league options at the high school level, most of them