As I write this, my four-year journey with high school esports has just come to an end. I have just had my last dinner with the team, handed out varsity letters, and handed over team captaincy to a junior whom I have great hopes for. The week before, I graduated from high school, marking the end of a chapter in my education. My name is...
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Below is a short, anonymous essay written by a GSE player: Growing up in New Jersey, I have never felt like much of an outcast. As an Asian-American female, I have always fit in and felt a sense of belonging, similar to many of my other fellow Asian American students in my multicultural community. Even as I entered high school, I have never struggled with issues...
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This email we recieved sums up why we do what we do. Shared with permission. Enjoy! Good morning, This is an email I have been wanting to send for a while but after this weekend and state finals falling on World Autism Day I knew it was the perfect time. I struggled with who to address it to, Mrs. Sellers knows how much I appreciate all she...
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Eric Churus, head coach of the Burnet Barbarians from Burnet Middle School in Union (whose middle school team won the GSE Rocket League state championship AND beat the high school state champs last year) shared with us his vision for "varsity letters" at the middle school level. Here's Eric: In the 2020-2021 school year we as a collective society faced a difficult challenge overhauling the educational...
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For Immediate Release - Garden State Esports Receives $34,000 Grant from Grunin Foundation to Improve Esports Career Education Program for Students The grant will be used to educate and connect students with college and career opportunities in the esports ecosystem NEW JERSEY, July 12, 2021 – The Grunin Foundation, known for fueling economic excellence by investing in innovations in the arts, education and healthcare at the Central...
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States like Colorado, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania are moving toward recognizing esports as a varsity sport at the state level. The National Federation for High School Sports has partnered with PlayVS to recognize esports a varsity sport for their members. The CSL Esports (formerly Collegiate Star League?) has spun up a high school league and say they have a number of state organizations ready to...
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Esports? I read the text from my Director with a bit of surprise: “What do you think about adding esports to our program? Check it out - I think this might be what we are looking for.” Despite my initial skepticism (I’m a traditionalist when it comes to sports - and as a Coach, Athletic Director and sports Official of nearly 20 years, the initial mental shift of...
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In our quest to lower the barrier of entry for schools to start an esports program, we here at Garden State Esports are willing to try anything. Our latest adventure is running an esports team using GeForce Now, Rocket League, and Chromebooks. But, this wasn't our idea. Regina Schaffer, Garden State Esports team member and coach of the Middletown Lions esports team, was approached by...
Read MoreTo help get you started Chris Boehmer, GSE's IT specialist, and I decided to write a guide detailing the process of getting Minecraft: Education Edition on to your students' Chromebooks. This may be a guide you share with your IT staff to unlock Minecraft for the Chromebook and then you use yourself to get students up and running in your class. Office 365 Integration First things first,...
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Do you have an esports program? Has your board approved one, but you haven’t had a chance to get up and running yet? With Covid-19 and distance learning, these are definitely challenging times when it comes to getting your esports program up and running or maintaining continuity since we are unsure what school will look like in the Fall. While there are challenges, we definitely see...
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In September 2018, my school district approved the creation of my FH Knights esports team, the first middle school esports team in the country. We are currently taking on all comers in Rocket League. Over the last two years, I’ve learned a lot about running an esports team and the value of esports in education. Here are two important reasons every school should have an esports team...
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