“There are scholarship opportunities, and opportunities to participate on teams and in clubs at colleges and universities throughout the country, it’s really growing very quickly.”One question is how long the Department of Education will oversee esports, or if it eventually shifts to the DIAA, which oversees traditional high school sports in Delaware.”We are excited to […]
“There are scholarship opportunities, and opportunities to participate on teams and in clubs at colleges and universities throughout the country, it’s really growing very quickly.”One question is how long the Department of Education will oversee esports, or if it eventually shifts to the DIAA, which oversees traditional high school sports in Delaware.”We are excited to bring such a dynamic program to Delaware’s students,” University of Delaware Esports Coordinator and Head Coach Kiernan Ensor said. “We hope to encourage more students to consider higher education and explore the growing esports field by hosting these championships.”The National Association of Collegiate ESports currently boasts over 260 US & Canada schools in their league.Delaware’s players will compete in Rocket League, Super Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, Overwatch, and Valorant.Moore concurred.Those careers are not necessarily becoming the next gaming star on the popular social media platform Twitch.According to the NFHS, 45% of esport competitors are the first time a student has competed in an after-school activity.”Esports in schools is not just about playing video games.””It’s a really great opportunity to expose students to the myriad of careers that are out there that connect to esports and gaming, that they’re really interested in and love to do in their free time.”Whether Delaware gets to that level is to be determined, but after four years of waiting, DOE is ready to officially press start on egaming.Moore said more schools have been reaching out to DOE, attempting to start programs at their schools, and that public schools competing in the Delaware tournaments have no restrictions on facing out-of-state competitors.ESports has grown from two schools to nine during the four years of various pilot programs and testing, not counting private school programs like Saint Mark’s.That’s the rationale behind the new Delaware State esports league, that will host a series of five championships in March and April.The competitions will be held at the University of Delaware, Wilmington University, Delaware State University, and Goldey Beacom College, along with Futures First Gaming of Wilmington.”Some students are interested in the arts and design, some students are interested in the marketing, some students are interested in broadcasting and shoutcasting, there are a lot of ways students can be connected to esports, and sometimes it’s just because they like to watch.”Esports can be big business, with ESportsEarnings.com reporting that Dota 2 has had nearly 2,000 tournaments with an overall prize pool of 5 million.In addition to the middle/high school championship, school-wide programs are being piloted at the elementary school level.According to an NFHS article in March, 20 state associations currently run some sort of competition.Alyssa Moore is the Education Associate for Digital Learning at the Department of Education, and said while esports are fun, there are plenty of lessons to be learned, maybe even more than traditional sports.
