When you teach at a student-teacher ratio of 34:1 (or more) you’ll almost always have a couple of “engaged” students in the room who will raise their hands, ask questions and participate in class conversations about whatever the topic is you’re teaching.
But almost inevitably, you’ll have a lot more kids who want to hide. Who don’t want to be called on. There could be a litany of reasons (from insecurity to they have no idea about what the answer is to fear of saying something that might cause other students to giggle at them) but the bottom line for them is often this: any day they don’t speak in class is a good day at school.
And if they stack up enough of these days together across enough classes, their grades will ultimately reflect it and inferences about their intelligence or assumptions about getting them out of their shell is a “lost cause” can creep in.
And then that kid puts on a headset and casts a match.
Out of seemingly nowhere, this kid is live on a stream, reading the game as it unfolds, calling the plays, pulling up player stats mid-battle, narrating the whole thing for an audience without even the slightest of wobbles in his voice.
Same kid. Same classroom.
The difference is that someone finally handed him a reason to talk in an environment where he felt confident in his ability to do it.
Although misperceptions about esports still pervade the landscape (as if it is merely a gaggle of teenagers slumped over controllers) I see it as something much bigger: a delivery system for building many of the academic, technical, and transferable skills we’ve been championing for years.
But that doesn’t happen simply because students are playing games. It happens when the gaming is connected to an excellent esports curriculum.
So What Is an Esports Curriculum?
To understand what an esports curriculum is, you need to learn what it's not. It's not a study hall with a game console in the corner, and it's not a Friday club that meets to mess around.
An esports curriculum is fully developed coursework, the standards-based kind that can sit on a school's master schedule and show up on a transcript, and it just so happens to use competitive gaming as the engagement engine. For kids, the hook is competition; for educators and parents, the draw is coursework that turns that engagement into meaningful academic and career preparation.
Unsurprisingly, between 2018 and 2021, many US schools (8,600, to be exact) have seen the appeal of adding an esports curriculum to the schedule. Many programs begin as after-school clubs. But increasingly, schools are recognizing that esports can become much more when competition is connected to structured curriculum, career exploration, and learning outcomes.
At USAEL, we call this Academic Esports: using the engagement power of competitive gaming as an on-ramp to STEM, computer science, CTE, industry credentials, career exploration, and transferable skills. Our goal is simple: turn Gamers into Makers.
What Does an Esports Class Teach? STEM and More
An esports class can teach far more than most people expect. A well-designed Academic Esports program can deliver academic and career content in a format kids love, and a good share of it is STEM in the most literal sense.
In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects STEM jobs to grow 8.1 percent between 2024 and 2034, nearly three times the 2.7 percent projected for everything else, at a median wage of $103,580. That is more than double what non-STEM work pays.
So with this in mind, here are some of the skills and career pathways students can explore through the right Academic Esports curriculum:
1. Broadcasting and Media
In esports, students can learn to run the stream, cast the match, edit highlights, and build a team's media presence.All of this falls under the umbrellas of production, writing, communication, and public speaking, and these are real-world skills that can be incredibly handy in their futures.
2. Business and Entrepreneurship
A well-designed esports program can expose students to the business behind competition: budgeting, marketing, sponsorships, event planning, scheduling, and team operations. Instead of merely reading about these concepts, students can see how they function in an environment they already understand and care about.
3. Coding and Computer Science
Academic Esports can also become an on-ramp into coding and computer science. Rather than assuming every student who loves gaming wants to become a professional gamer, we can ask a much more powerful question: What if that interest in games becomes an interest in making them?
Students can move from playing games to exploring game development, programming, websites, hardware, networks, cybersecurity, and the technology that makes modern gaming possible.
That’s the transition we care about: Gamers to Makers.
4. Math and Analytics
Competitive play generates constant data involving win rates, damage per minute, map control, ranking systems, and more. Students who learn to interpret that information, identify patterns, and make decisions based on it are practicing applied statistics and data analysis.
The numbers suddenly have a purpose because the students care about what the numbers are telling them.
5. Career Exploration
Many of the roles students encounter through esports have direct parallels in the professional world. Casting connects to broadcast production. Team leadership connects to event and project management. Technical roles connect to IT and software development. Analytics connects to data science.
And the opportunity extends well beyond careers in gaming. Communication, collaboration, leadership, problem-solving, technical literacy, and data analysis are transferable skills that employers value across industries.
That distinction matters. The goal isn't simply to prepare students for jobs in esports. It's to use something they already care about to introduce them to a much larger world of possibilities.
Where Does CTE Fit In?
The global games industry is enormous and still growing, and if you don’t believe me, believe Newzoo, which values the global games market at $188.8 billion in 2025, with roughly 3.6 billion people playing worldwide. But the career opportunity surrounding Academic Esports extends beyond the games industry itself.
CTE prepares students for specific jobs while they're still in school, the way a health-sciences program leads toward nursing or an automotive program toward a certified technician. Academic Esports can serve as the engagement layer that introduces students to pathways in computer science, cybersecurity, broadcasting, business, marketing, data analytics, game development, and other technology fields.
When those experiences connect to structured coursework, portfolios, industry-recognized credentials, internships, and postsecondary pathways, esports stops being simply an extracurricular activity. It becomes part of a workforce-readiness strategy.
That's the real value of teaching these roles in a structured curriculum rather than a casual club, because students leave with skills and experiences that can help them take their next step.
But Do You Have to Be a Gamer to Teach It?
Teachers often ask this question, usually in a slightly panicked voice. The answer is no. Absolutely not. You don’t have to be a gamer to teach an esports curriculum. I always say that if you can run a club or chaperone a trip, you can coach an esports team.
In fact, the students will probably know more about the games than you do… and that's okay.
The educator's job isn't to be the best Rocket League player in the room. It's to create the learning environment, set expectations, facilitate collaboration, guide students through the curriculum, and help them connect what they're doing to something larger.
That's why curriculum and professional development matter. With lesson plans, rubrics, training, and coaching resources in place, educators can lead an Academic Esports program without needing years of gaming experience themselves.
So, Should It Be on Your Schedule?
I will reiterate this point until I am blue in the face. An esports curriculum is not a gaming club with a bigger budget. Should I say it again for those in the back? An esports curriculum, when done right, is one of the most efficient pieces of teaching real estate in the building. It offers STEM, media, business, and career prep skills-building that kids grasp with both hands.
That’s exactly why it earns its place on your schedule, and at the United States Academic Esports League, we offer a curriculum to back it up. We’ve built a standards-based K-12 curriculum backed by the training your staff needs, so zero gaming experience is required.
If you’d like to learn more, book a demo with our team, and we’ll show you how fast a game can become a class.
