Esports

Esports is a form of competition using video games. Most commonly, esports takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although organized online and offline competitions have long been a part of video game culture, these were largely between amateurs until the late 2000s, when participation by professional gamers and spectatorship in these events through live streaming saw a large surge in popularity. By the 2010s, esports was a significant factor in the video game industry, with many game developers actively designing toward a professional esports subculture.

In 2019, it is estimated that the total audience of esports will grow to 454 million viewers and that revenues will increase to over US$1 billion.

Tournaments such as the League of Legends World Championship, Dota 2's The International, the fighting games-specific Evolution Championship Series (EVO), and the Intel Extreme Masters provide live broadcasts of the competition and prize money to competitors. Many competitions use a series of promotion and relegation play with sponsored teams, such as the League of Legends World Championship, but more recently, competitions structured similar to American professional sports, with salaried players and regular season and playoff series, have emerged, such as the Overwatch League. The legitimacy of esports as a sports competition remains in question; however, esports has been featured alongside traditional sports in multinational events, and the International Olympic Committee has explored incorporating them into future Olympic events.

Home/School Connection
Esports is likely to attract a population of students that are underserved by your school’s extra curricular offerings. Students who come out for esports likely don’t have a home/school connection, meaning they might not be involved in other sports or clubs at school. Studies show that students who have a home/school connection have an increased academic performance. The improved academic performance that comes from being involved in school activities combined with the addition of traditional eligibility requirements is a strong 1-2 punch of a value proposition.

Social/Emotional Development
While esports may be a scholarship opportunity for some, the social/emotional benefit can impact all of your players. Historically, online gameplay has been characterized by misogyny, racism, and other misanthropic behavior. This misanthropic behavior is generally referred to as toxicity by gamers. An important part of running an esports team is helping kids learn to navigate the toxicity found in gaming/internet culture. Providing students with mentorship, modeling, and guidance on how to have a positive online experience is a benefit to your students and the online gaming community.

An important part of running an esports team is helping kids learn to navigate the toxicity found in gaming/internet culture.

Further, through the esports team, students may find a new friend group and sense of belonging, both of which lead to better learning outcomes for students.

Finally, just like with traditional sports, the development of communication skills, teamwork, leadership, coachability, persistence, and the ability to adapt and overcome adversity can all be grown.

Violence/Bigotry Education
Esports may be a useful way to address and educate students on two important cultural issues: violence in schools and bigotry in gaming. Esports is an opportunity to discuss and educate students about violence in the age of school shootings. We also have the opportunity to address the bigotry found in a disturbing subset of gaming culture that has reared its ugly head in incidents like gamergate. Historically, girls and non-binary individuals are under-represented in esports both as players and behind-the-scenes contributors. We need to make sure the students that come through our esports programs recognize their potential biases toward any race or gender as we help them learn how to advocate for equality in esports and beyond.

Career Exposure
For every professional esports player, there are dozens of people working behind the scenes that make their professional gaming career possible. We will be using the esports team as a way to introduce students to different professions and career paths. Esports teams have accountants, broadcasters, technicians, marketers, and many other STEM/STEAM and traditional employees working for them. A strong esports for education program will find a way to incorporate students in roles other than player, so they can be exposed to different career possibilities in the fastest growing industry in the world. The best esports programs in education are made up of both players and support roles.

School/College Pipeline
As stated earlier, many colleges have esports programs and some have even started to offer scholarships. Even if a student doesn’t earn a scholarship, an esports team that has partnered with sending high schools, colleges, and universities will have created a pipeline for students interested in esports that can keep them involved in esports from middle school through high school and into college. The best esports programs will have partnerships with multiple esports programs and leverage those relationships in a way that helps students see what the next level looks like and how they can get there.

A number of schools provide scholarships for esports, and more colleges and universities are providing scholarships every year. There are even local scholarship opportunities at OU with esports teams at both OSU and OCU. These scholarships range from $1,000 to full tuition. Visit Animation Career Review for a larger list of colleges with scholarship opportunities.Animation Career Review

Parent/Guardian Permission
All students participating must fill out the parental permission form. This form will be provided to the students by the coaches. Students will not be permitted to participate, nor spectate, without this form on file.

Grades, Attendance, & Behavior
In order to participate, students must meet minimum extracurricular requirements, as set by Noble Public Schools. This requirement can be found in the student handbook.

• Students must be in good attendance standing in all classes, with no more than 9 absences per academic semester. Emergency absences do not count toward this requirement.
• Students must be in good behavioral standing. If a student wishing to participate or spectate has received teacher detention (TD), in school suspension (ISP), out of school suspension (OSS), or any combination, they are not eligible for a minimum of one week of the date received.

Unfair Play/Penalties
The following actions will be considered unfair play, and will result in suspension from participation for 1-week.

• The use of any cheat program and/or map hack program.
• An intentional disconnection without a proper and explicitly stated reason.
• Unsportsmanlike conduct or disruptive behavior such as inappropriate and/or unprofessional actions or inappropriate language
• The intentional use of a game bug or error.
• The use of an ineligible player (e.g. "ringing").
• Sharing accounts between team members or nonmembers.
• Unauthorized obstructions to match scheduling (e.g. lateness).

If unfair play is determined more than three times over the course of the calendar school year, students will be removed from the esports club/league.

League OS League OS College Portal