Diana Penning, a teacher at Spring Hill High School, has been recognized by Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, as an Excellent Educator and is partnering with the university to provide students with new opportunities in computer science. The title was awarded during the university’s virtual Teacher Appreciation Week and honors Penning’s work with the high school’s computer science program, as well as the continued success of the school’s Multimedia Gaming Club.

Spring Hill High School, located in Chapin, South Carolina, has hosted the Multimedia Gaming Club for six years. Throughout this time, students have led and organized meetings, letting their three faculty sponsors take the backseat.

“We are absolutely not the leaders,” says Penning. “Adults have to exist to help run a club in order to manage money and to manage building logistics and things like that, but it is absolutely student-run.”

The club meets monthly, beginning after school and lasting into the night. Club officers arrive early to set up the several categories of games, including card games, board games, video games, and anything pertaining to that month’s specific theme. Prior to the pandemic, a monthly meeting had an average attendance of 75-80 students.

These large attendance numbers played a part in the school’s recognition by Full Sail University, as Spring Hill High School contributed the largest number of teams to the Fall High School Esports Series. Penning promoted the tournament to students while club activities were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Spring Hill High School students and those enrolled in the five virtual schools could participate as a team or as a single player in a Fortnite or Rocket League tournament.

According to rising Spring Hill junior, Ethan Spencer, many students participating in the tournament benefited from prior experience competing against their peers at club meetings. “There’s a lot of competitiveness [in] the Multimedia Gaming Club, making it a little more enjoyable for people like me.” This after-school competition provided the necessary experience and practice for students participating in the tournament.

In total, 35 Spring Hill students participated in the tournament. At leave five of the 75-80 participating teams were made up of Spring Hill students. Of these five teams, one nearly made it to the tournament finals, coming in at ninth place.

Unlike other schools in the tournament, Spring Hill does not have a school-sponsored esports team. Their lack of an official team and their large participation caught the attention of tournament officials. Penning was contacted by Full Sail after the tournament.

“I randomly got an email from them one day,” says Penning. “saying ‘we’d like to talk to you guys some more about what you’re doing up there and what’s going on, and maybe introducing you to our partnership program.'”

According to the university’s webpage, the Full Sail University High School Partnership Program is intended to “support distinguished high schools focusing on career and technical pathways within the entertainment, media, arts, and technology industries.” Representatives from the university held a virtual meeting with Diana Penning and the principal of Spring Hill High School, Dr. Michael Lofton, to discuss the potential partnership. Spring Hill leadership viewed the program as a great opportunity and a way to build career pathways for students.

Through the partnership, Spring Hill students in the fields of computer science and engineering have the chance to receive a partial scholarship to Full Sail University. If a student takes three classes in Penning’s computer science program and achieves the required GPA, she can recommend them for recognition by Full Sail.

Lofton says about the partnership: “If I could just get one kid to have that one opportunity, I think that would be a lifetime of partnership right there, that would be worth, you know, saying ‘we had that one kid back ten years ago.'” Lofton believes that the partnership between Full Sail University and Spring Hill High School will bring more attention to the school’s computer science program and highlight students’ achievements in those classes. “To see the kids in [Penning’s] classes really get excited about the opportunities that a program or a university like Full Sail could offer, that’s where I saw more of the benefit.”

Spring Hill High School is a public magnet school with five magnet programs, including engineering, environmental science, exercise science, entrepreneurship, and entertainment studies. Currently, the partnership is aimed at computer science courses within the engineering field, but Spring Hill hopes to expand this in the future, possibly into the entertainment track.

Students are also seeing the possibilities. Spencer says, “We have a lot of students that not only want to do things with video games, but also like to do things with the arts field. We have students who like to do graphic design, students that are interested in filmmaking, and Full Sail University is one of those schools that has a lot of those programs that allow you to do those sorts of things and come out with a full job, basically right after your degree.”

In six years, the Multimedia Gaming Club has become one of the largest gathering places for students at Spring Hill High School, exposed students to the field of Esports, and opened doors for university education. According to Spencer, this is all paying off in the classroom.

“Because of the Multimedia Gaming Club, I feel more connected with the students in my classes more than anything. Especially those classes those students participate in. For example, in Game Design, a lot of those people are in the Multimedia Gaming Club, so not only do I get to connect with them on a more personal level, but I say that it also increases productivity.”

Both Spencer and Lofton credit this progress to an Excellent Educator. Spencer says, “[Ms. Penning] definitely deserves that award… She is so engaged with her students. She loves her students. She’s so actively wanting to work with them that it’s just amazing.”

Lofton says, “Ms. Penning… was in the corporate world before education, so she’s not a traditional teacher. So I feel very blessed that she is here, because she has this unique background to really be able to teach kids what it’s really like in that computer world.”

Despite this praise, Penning remains focused on the change that the Multimedia Gaming Club and this partnership can have in the classroom. “That’s just the best part of teaching what I teach,” she says. “Just having students see the opportunity in their area of interest. That’s the fulfilling part.”

Multimedia Gaming Club members have shown interest in starting Spring Hill High School’s first Esports team. Regarding the Full Sail University High School Partnership Program, Penning and Dr. Lofton hope to expand the offerings to other magnet tracks in the future. This program may also draw more students to the school who are interested in not only a gaming club but a future career in computer science.

Faulkner University is excited to announce plans for a new eSports team scheduled to begin competition in the fall of 2022!

Esports, organized video game competitions, is exploding in popularity across high schools, colleges and universities throughout the country. Since competitions are virtual, they can be broadcast online for viewers to watch around the world.

Faulkner has recognized esports as a great opportunity to attract prospective students and hopes to be a part of building it into an established competitive collegiate sport.

Much like early college football, esports is growing from a grassroots effort where gaming guidelines, competition schedules and player formats are agreed upon with mutual cooperation between opposing teams.

Organized under the Faulkner Athletics Department, Faulkner esports is scheduled to launch by the fall of 2022, however, renovations and development of the new esports arena should be completed by December 2021.

Faulkner’s plans are to establish an official esports varsity team. Unlike traditional sports, esports is a participant sport that anyone can play.

“Esports is in high demand right now among high schools and it’s growing at an incredible rate among colleges and universities,” said Mark Hunt, Vice President for Enrollment Management. “Esports is something you can participate in from anywhere in the world and we already have a large number of students on campus who have expressed interest in participating and growing the sport.”

During the spring 2021 semester, students on Faulkner’s Montgomery campus organized small local esports gaming events and hosted esports tournaments with cooperation from Caleb Colquitt, Resident Director.

In addition to baseball, basketball, football and other sporting games, students participated in Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart in addition to traditional esports games such as League of Legends, Overwatch, and Rocket League.

“Getting in on the ground level of esports is a good draw,” Colquitt said. “Esports has blossomed over the pandemic and is becoming a really big deal. There are large monetary prizes at the tournament levels, which have been featured on ESPN.”

Faulkner’s esports arena would also be able to host other esports tournaments for local high schools and surrounding areas. A space inside the Multiplex has been designated for the arena and will include new computers, monitors, gaming chairs, desks, special lighting, production equipment and a live viewing area along with outside viewing areas.

Esports teams can include up to six players at a time, smaller teams or even individual tournaments, depending on the game.

According to gaming analytics company, NewZoo, the fan base for esports is expected to include nearly 729 million people by the end of 2021, a 10% increase from 2020.

Prospective students interested in eSports should contact the Admissions Office at 334-386-7200 or inquire by email to admissions@faulkner.edu.

Since at least 2017, there have been discussions about esports becoming part of the Olympics, even as sports aimed at younger audiences joined the Games, including skateboarding and surfing in Tokyo. This year, those conversations led to esports gaining a more significant presence in professional competition. In April, the IOC announced it would hold virtual auto racing, baseball, cycling, rowing and sailing competitions, ahead of the Summer Games. However, those competitions omitted the most popular game titles in esports, such as “League of Legends” and “Dota 2,” and focused instead on games that replicated traditional sports with limited player bases.

DreamHack returns once more, but as an online show starting today. In lieu of being a live-person event, the organizers have revealed DreamHack Beyond, a “hybrid festival and online multiplayer game” for participants to explore the showcase and cheer on teams from the safety of home.

The DreamHack Beyond game was created by Super Crowd. The developer has been behind other multiplayer expo games for events like gamescom and the Hamburg Games Conference Online 2021. Similar to those previous events, DreamHack Beyond is sort of like a role-playing game. You created an online avatar and guide them through digital hallways with varying themes.

One such example from the trailer showed something like a post-apocalyptic Pac-Man board, with a giant, stone head of its hungry protagonist lording over the attendees. There’s also experience points to gain and loot to discover.

Grabbing that real-life loot

The show begins today and will last until July 31. DreamHack has been known for years to provide many esports tournaments across a bevvy of games, and this year will be no different. There will be over $30,000 USD “in cash prizes” on offer across games like League of Legends (July 24), Fortnite, Heroes of the Storm, Valorant, and… Among Us? I didn’t know crawling through vents could be an esport.

There are other things going on besides esports. This year’s DreamHack will have its “first-ever Speedrun series.” The organizers have teamed up with Warp World to present speedruns from across eras, starting with 8-bit before moving onto to the vastly superior 16-bit era. DreamHack will also include music performances by artists like Hyper Potions (Sonic Mania, Rocket League) and Qlank.

You can watch these events and within the Beyond game. It’s starting off at 1 PM ET with an opening show. You can check out all the included events through the online schedule.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – Poor living conditions, financial issues and stress are just some of the problems going on in the minor leagues, according to one Rocket City Trash Panda player.

Kieran Lovegrove is a pitcher for the Rocket City Trash Pandas. In an ESPN article, Lovegrove explained how he is living in a three-bedroom apartment with six other teammates. While he was able to snag a twin bed, he said two players are sleeping in the living room and one in the kitchen because they can’t afford much else.

The Trash Pandas are part of the Los Angeles Angels organization. Lovegrove told ESPN reporter Joon Lee many guys in the organization are working two to three jobs in the offseason in order to expand their minor league income and maintain careers in baseball.

In addition to their financial issues, Lovegrove went on to talk about how nutrition and healthy food options are vital for athletes. However, he said players lack access to quality food, which is supposed to be provided.

This isn’t Lovegrove’s first rodeo with the minor leagues. He has played in other organizations and said there is a large gap between how he was treated there versus in the Angels’ system.

Angels general manager Perry Minasian released a statement regarding the accusations.

“What is being reported is unacceptable, and we will look into it and address it,” Minasian said.

Copyright 2021 WAFF. All rights reserved.

Fri, 07/23/2021 – 11:32am | By: David Tisdale

University of Southern Mississippi (USM) students are reminded that Eagle Esports live/hybrid tryout session begins next week – July 28-30 – at the Hattiesburg campus for those interested in joining the school’s gaming program that has grown in popularity.

“The response has been great so far, we have several students vying for about 10-15 spots right now on the teams, and we’re excited about the possibilities we have to build on the success from last spring,” said Dr. Denny Bubrig, assistant vice president for student life.

The live/hybrid tryout schedule is as follows, with live tryouts to be held at the Thad Cochran Center’s ESports Lounge unless otherwise noted:

Wednesday, July 28
5 p.m.: Tryout Q&A on Zoom 

Thursday, July 29             
5-6:30 p.m.: Rocket League 
6:45-7:30 p.m.: League of Legends
7:45-9 p.m.: Overwatch 

Friday, July 30                  
3:40-5 p.m.: Call of Duty 
5:15-6:30 p.m.: Rainbow 6 

Results are scheduled to be announced the week following the tryout sessions; plans are also being made for a pre-school camp August 18-21. All students wanting to compete must have tried out and be signed no later than Sept. 1.

Students interested in joining an Eagle Esports team who live out of state or have in-person tryout concerns because of the pandemic can still take advantage of the remote tryout option, in which they submit a brief video that includes an introduction of the candidate and three-five substantive game plan clips. Submission of tryout videos and any questions about Eagle ESports should be emailed to esportsFREEMississippi; for more information about the program, visit https://www.usm.edu/esports/teams-athlete-recruitment.php. 

Looking to enhance live streams by capturing athlete reactions and interactions with other players and team members, Jason Forbes, broadcast engineer at Kent State University Teleproductions, turned to the miniature CV503 POV and full featured CV730 PTZ cameras from Marshall Electronics.

The university was already familiar with Marshall, as its cameras are used throughout the campus for some of its traditional sports and as observation cameras for classrooms and labs. The design and integration of Kent State’s 12-seat V-style arena gaming space was done entirely in-house with the help of Heartland Video, which provided most of the video production gear. The use of Marshall’s ultra-compact cameras allowed the team to enhance its live streams to Twitch without causing any player distractions or interference.

“To capture athlete reactions, we placed one CV503 POV camera at each of the 12 player stations as gamer cams,” said Forbes. “We also installed two CV730 PTZ cameras in the arena space to shoot wider shots of the players and then an additional CV730 in the casters studio. The control room houses the observer computers as well as the Marshall controllers.”

The Marshall CV503 offers 1920x1080p video at up to 60fps in a sturdy form factor, while the CV730 features a 30x optical zoom block and flexible 12GSDI, HDMI, IP simultaneous outputs with UHD images up to 3840x2160p at 60fps.

Marshall’s VS-PTC-IP controller is used to manoeuvre the CV730 cameras into position and between presets as well as paint and fine tune as needed. The CV-RCP-V2 touchscreen CCU is used to shade, adjust and match the CV503 POVs remotely from the control room.

“The ease of use of the Marshall cameras is amazing,” added Forbes. “The menus are self-explanatory, which is very important as our productions are primarily student-run. In addition, having PoE has made our life so much easier, as I did not have to bring an electrician in to get the cameras powered up. The other important piece of the puzzle is the price point. Operating on a university budget, Marshall’s price is spot on. The cameras have proven themselves to be reliable. After the initial set-up, our players don’t even know they are there.”