Esports Classroom Podcast

In this episode, we have no guest this week but instead I share out how a team goes from formation all the way to the in-person state championship. My Ames High Esports Rocket League team competed hard all season to advance to the playoffs where they won 4-0 to advance to the in-person state tournament in Marshalltown, IA. I share out how the season works in the Iowa High School Esports Associatio...

In this episode, we talk with Gavin Drummond who is the founder of the Youth Gaming Association. Gavin has been impacted by scholastic esports as a high school player, college coach and Student Director at Mizzou, and has even worked with some pro esports organizations. Hear what this former pro Overwatch player has been impacted by esports and where we could go next with scholastic esports. You c...

In this episode, we talk with Albert (Alby) Rassavong who is currently the Assistant Director of Esports & Intramurals at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, IA. Alby is also the founder of the Collegiate Fighting Game Conference where he has worked to grow the esports scene around fighting games through league structures, partnerships, and events. Hear Alby’s take on collegiate esports and...

In this episode, we talk with Josh Fischer who is currently the Head Esports Coach at Wartburg College in Waverly, IA. Josh has also been a college esports player which led him into being a coach at the college level. Coach Fisch makes it clear to his players that esports is a place where they belong and ensures that this message is heard clearly. Hear about his experience and how he thinks esport...

In this episode, we talk with Connor Alne, also known as Coach Alne, who is currently the Executive Director of NAECAD. Connor has a long history in scholastic esports from helping to organize esports events, leading programs at the college level, and leading the High School ESports League. Hear what he has to say about the current state of esports and what he would like to see happen for esports...

In this episode, we talk with Seth Taylor who is an Esports Coach/Director at Robinson ISD in Texas. Seth’s school is in their 2nd year with their HS program and has started a program at their junior high school. Seth is not a teacher at the school but was hired specifically to coach esports after spending some time running a LAN center. Here how he got started and how his own history gaming has h...

In this episode, we talk with Ryne Erickson and Roby Widner who are currently playing collegiate esports at Marshalltown Community College. Ryne and Roby were high school students who were part of our first year of Esports at Nevada HS. They won multiple state Mario Kart titles while at Nevada HS and have had a ton of success while playing at the collegiate level. Listen to hear how they transitio...

In this episode, we talk with Scott Beiter who is a secondary high school science teacher but also runs his district’s esports program. Scott is also the president of the Empire State Scholastic Esports Federation ( ESSEF.org ) which helps to promote scholastic esports and helps run the esports program for high schools in New York state. Hear about his experiences as a coach, how New York is runni...

In this episode, we talk with Jesse McNulty who is the Ed Specialist in the Office of Digital Learning at the Delaware Department of Education and leads the Delaware Scholastic Esports League (DSEL). Each state is approaching their state league a little differently and Delaware is seeing a lot of growth with their model. Hear all about how esports is run in Delaware high schools and how they are f...

In this episode, we talk with Rich Green who is the Director of Radio, Digital Content, and Esports at Indiana State University. Rich started out being the advisor for the casual gaming club but that has evolved into a full fledged Esports team that competes in four different titles but is rapidly growing. Hear how his college program got started and how there are so many connections between Espor...

In this episode, we talk with Draven Graves who is an Esports player at Missouri State West-Plains College and our first college esports player on the podcast. He is the Mario Kart team captain and is competing at nationals for Mario Kart after placing 2nd at regionals. His high school did not have an esports program and only got connected with this college team thanks to word of mouth. He shares...

In this episode, we talk with Sean Mignagaray who is the Esports coach and Esports Coordinator at Iowa City Liberty High School in Iowa City, IA. Sean was previously an Esports coach at Cedar Rapids Kennedy before moving on to the program at Liberty. Sean has had to learn a lot as there is a big difference between being a coach of a title and being the coordinator for the whole team. Sean also sha...

In this episode, we talk with Austin Lich who is the Esports coach at Belmond Klemme in Iowa and an owner of Howler NET: Esports Connection. Belmond-Klemme is a small school district in Iowa but already has a lot of history as an Esports program and just brought home their first state championship. Austin also helped form Howler NET: Esports Connection as a way to help connect high school esports...

In this episode, we talk with Jason Lester, who is the Esports Coordinator and Coach at Cedar Rapids Kennedy in Cedar Rapids, IA. The Kennedy Esports team has been one of the top Overwatch and Valorant teams in the state the last couple of years and is competitive in every title they play. Jason is extra busy in the fall months as he is also a football coach at Kennedy High School. We talk about h...

In this episode, we talk with Cole Prescott, who is currently the Associate Director of the National Association of Esports Coaches and Directors (NAECAD). Cole was previously the Esports coach at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA. We talk about his experiences being a college Esports coach, the challenges and the wins, as well as what he has seen in programs through his new role.

In this episode, we talk with Shayne Trail, who is the esports coach at Lake Shore High School in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He is also the founder of Southeast Michigan Esports, a board member for Michigan High School Esports Federation (MiHSEF), and a member of the policy committee for the Interstate Esports Alliance (ISEA).

In this episode, we talk with Josh Knutson, who is currently the Gravity Gaming Solutions Director at ByteSpeed, but was the esports coach at the University of Jamestown from 2016 to 2019. Josh has been involved in esports for a while now and has worked with many others around their programs. We talk about what he saw as an esports coach and how his current role allows to stay connected to esports...

In this episode, we talk with Christian Darnold from Janesville, IA, who is coaching esports in the first season for Janesville HS. They have only lost one match so far and are heading to the state tournament this week in Rainbow 6. Janesville is a small school district, fewer than 500 students in the whole district, but has shown a lot of support for their inaugural esports season.

Mike Dahle is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin High School Esports Association and has been involved in esports for over a decade. Hear how Wisconsin runs their league and how esports is facing challenges and successes in Wisconsin.

This episode we talk with Isaac Vos who is the Esports coach at Mount Ayr High School in southern Iowa. Mount Ayr is a smaller district with a total K-12 enrollment of 650 students but has growing interest in Esports and is adding students every season.

This week we are talking with Nate Rodemeyer who is currently an Esports coach at Marshalltown Community College in Marshalltown, Iowa. He was previously a high school Esports coach before moving on to MCC where he has had a large amount of success including a recent national Mario Kart titles which is one of their 12 national titles in the last 4 years. You can find out more about Marshalltown Co...

Episode 2 of the Esports Classroom Podcast with Lauren James who is an Esports coach at Dike New Hartford in Iowa. She is also the VP of the Iowa High School Esports Association. Dike New Hartford is part of the Iowa High School Esports Association and competes in numerous titles throughout the year. Dike New Hartford has around 900 students K-12.

First episode of a little project I am working on where I interview Esports coaches from the high school and college levels as well as others involved in Esports. I will share my background a little bit to get started and why I think Esports is something that all schools should be doing.