Esports in Education: Why Security Should Come In First
It’s all fun and games, until someone loses control of their network.
In the days of Super Mario, the relationship between video games and school was anything but super. Shortly after early electronics allowed video games to jump from the TV into your hands, schools everywhere handed down an edict—if a student took their Game Boy to school, the only available quest would be scheming to liberate it from the inside of the teacher’s desk.
But as video games — and the internet itself — have leveled up, so have their relationship with education. Esports have found a home within the same hallowed halls they were once banned from, and today approximately 8,600 high schools and 170 higher-education campuses support an esports program.
The Emergence of Esports
“Esports,” which stands for “electronic sports,” has existed in some form since the dawn of gaming. Video game competitions and tournaments started gaining popularity as early as the 1970s, with one event — the Space Invaders Championship, held by Atari in 1980 — attracting more than 10,000 participants.
But the real transition from “competitive gaming” to “esports” didn’t begin until the late 1990s. With the release of games like “Quake” and “StarCraft,” players began competing against one another in organized events, and companies began sponsoring tournaments.
The 2000s brought the establishment of major esports organizations, such as the Electronic Sports League (ESL) and Major League Gaming (MLG), which helped formalize and popularize competitive gaming. Soon after, the introduction of platforms such as YouTube and Twitch took gaming to an even higher level, delivering global audiences of tens and even hundreds of thousands of viewers eager to watch their favorite players and teams compete live.
Today, esports is a global phenomenon. Professional players earn substantial incomes and massive prize pools in the millions of dollars for tournaments such as Call of Duty Championship and League of Legends World Championship are not unheard of. With sponsorships from brands like Nike, Red Bull and Tiffany and Co., today’s esports parallels traditional sports in just about every way.
Esports and Education: A Natural Evolution
And these similarities extend to their presence in schools. Many early gamers are now teachers (or librarians, or administrators) themselves, and their comfort with and enjoyment of games has made them open to the benefits of incorporating gaming into an educational environment.
These benefits, as it turns out, are numerous: Students who participate in esports display increased academic engagement and build problem-solving and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills. Esports offer greater inclusivity than traditional sports, and foster creativity among participants. They also help build social skills, offering both an avenue for community and opportunities to become better at working collaboratively as part of a team.
And they can open doors to the future: Some colleges and universities offer scholarships for K-12 esports participants, and esports participants in higher education can find themselves better prepared for careers such as information technology, business, management, education and more.
ESSER, HERF & the Economics of Esports in Education
But to realize the benefits brought by esports, cash-strapped schools need to find a way to support such programs. Fortunately, there are a number of available avenues for funding the fun.
State grants are available for K-12 and higher education institutions aiming to start or improve an esports program. Federal funding programs, such as ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund) and HEERF, are also available — for now.
Designed to provide emergency pandemic funding to enhance school IT infrastructure, the first two rounds of ESSER funding have expired. But schools have until Sept. 30, 2024, to use their portion of the $121.97 billion in funding associated with ESSER III, also known as ARP (American Rescue Plan) ESSER. While most school districts are on pace to leverage their ESSER allocations, some have used less than a tenth of their funds. And according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 50 percent or more of ESSER III funding remained unspent in 13 states and the District of Columbia as of January 2024.
Combining ESSER III funding with existing E-rate funds can help schools build a solid esports program, but don’t wait: This program is a “use it or lose it” funding mechanism.
The final round of HEERF (Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding) was also established through the ARP. The deadline for submitting a plan has passed, but purchases can still be completed into 2024 — meaning that colleges and universities may still be able to apply this funding to esports programs.
To be eligible for most of these funding sources, educational institutions will need to show how esports programs benefit students, align with educational goals and meet the specific needs of a given school district. If your planned esports program includes a curriculum, this will help tremendously in securing federal funding.
In addition to HEERF and ESSER funding, schools can also apply for a number of STEM grants, such as:
- Byte Speed
- Video Game Grants and Scholarships
- Scholarships for Women
- STEM Grants
- Frey Scientific
- ITEST
- After School STEM
- Esports Course
Safeguarding the Sport
One of the most important considerations for any school esports program is also among the most easily overlooked. Schools that would never dream of sending their football team out without pads or their swim team to a meet sans lifeguard should extend this same safety mindset to their esports programs.
While these programs can have a positive impact, they’re not without their risks, both to the players themselves, and to entire districts. For any esports program to be successful, schools must secure campus networks and access — all while preventing PII theft and blocking ransomware, DDoS attacks, intrusion attempts and other disruptive (and potentially destructive) cyberattacks.
SonicWall is an expert in securing educational institutions, with over 7,300 current global deployments. Our solutions offer the network performance, availability and reliability that esports organizations and schools need to maintain their competitive edge.
Find out more about why securing esports is necessary — and how SonicWall can help.
