New Lessons and Guides Created by NASEF Scholastic Fellows to Equip Educators to Implement Career-Focused Scholastic Esports Programs

(Atlanta, Georgia – March 18, 2026 ) – The Network of Academic and Scholastic Esports Federations (NASEF) is pleased to provide free access to more than two dozen new scholastic esports program guides, curricula, and reference materials. This material ranges from elementary school to college to community programs, from STEM/STEAM to inclusive esports. It marks a significant addition to NASEF’s Community Library which is available alongside its ELA and CTE curriculum. The Community Library is a unique resource which is developed by NASEF Scholastic Fellows. 

The NASEF Fellows program provides innovative educators and esports leaders across the globe with personalized coaching, workshops, and collaborative sessions, all designed to develop their own expertise and help them build a professional global network. As a culminating assignment, these teachers and leaders create capstone projects—curricula and resources that merge play with purposeful learning. These projects are published in the NASEF Community Library and are freely available to leaders everywhere who are seeking to inspire students, players, and coaches through esports.

Following are the descriptions of the new materials that are now available free from NASEF to support scholastic esports programs. Peruse the descriptions below and access these materials with more than 100 other guides at the NASEF website. 

Collegiate / University

• Comprehensive Esports Management and Development Created by Arefa Parvin Taposhe
• This course provides an overview of the esports industry, covering its ecosystems, business strategies, performance, and content creation. Students will explore team management, game design, emerging technologies, and trends, equipping them with the skills needed to succeed in the competitive world of esports. 
• Esports Collegiate Recruiting Guide Created by Joshua Tabor
• This guide is for high school students, parents, and educators who want to learn about navigating the collegiate esports landscape. This guide will provide insights on the benefits of collegiate esports, address common concerns, and offer guidance on how to turn gaming skills into college opportunities and career pathways. 

Community Showcase

• Mimoza Gamefest Created by Milan Lalic
• The Mimoza Game Fest combined competitive Dota 2 play with educational programming, engaging participants through digital literacy modules, esports workshops, and virtual community-building via Discord. The event culminated in a LAN tournament and career-focused panel, demonstrating how esports can support skill development, teamwork, and future career pathways. 
• Building Global Competence and Digital Citizenship Through Scholastic Esports Exchange Created by Tomoaki Hatayama
• This project created a sustainable model of international collaboration through scholastic esports between Japanese and U.S. high schools by establishing a sister-school partnership, organizing bilingual esports activities, co-hosting a friendly international tournament, and creating shared platforms using Discord and Padlet for continuous communication and reflection.
• The Battle of the Boroughs Created by Anthony Casasnovas and Jose Perez
• This showcase highlights a citywide initiative to expand New York State-certified Game & Interactive Media Design CTE programs across New York City through The Battle of the Boroughs, a multi-stage esports and game development competition culminating in a mayor-sponsored public expo. 
• Creating a more diverse and inclusive esports program for my little “gameHERs” Created by Ariel Koepp
• This showcase focuses on strengthening an elementary esports & gameHERs program by creating a more inclusive and diverse environment that increases participation among female and female-identifying students. 
• Education in Maradi Created by Ibrahim Salifou Kalla
• This showcase endeavors to revolutionize education in Maradi through an innovative and holistic approach that integrates quest-based learning, STEM education, programming, and English community. 
• Esports Amplified Project Application Created by John Phillips 
• This project expanded scholastic esports across Michigan through a grant-funded, train-the-trainer model that equipped 28 regional centers with resources and trained over 150 educators to integrate esports into the curriculum using NASEF’s model. By sharing the grant application, this showcase hopes to empower other regions to replicate with a focus on accessibility, scalability, and statewide impact. 
• Scholastic Esports Pilot in Hartford Public Schools within Elementary Programs Created by Jordan Wissinger
• The goal of this showcase was to launch a scholastic esports program in five Hartford public elementary schools, providing students with technology-focused education. 
• Coach Dashboard Using Notion Created by Lindsey Neal
• This project showcases how Fox Warrior Esports Program uses Notion as a tool for the coach dashboard. 
• Round Rock ISD Esports Created by Robin Young 
• This showcase aimed to establish a district-wide esports program to foster collaboration among coaches and support student development. Key efforts included launching a competitive Minecraft league, gathering insights from stakeholders, and planning in-person events. 
• Level Up! Maryland Building A Community-Based Esports Ecosystem Created by Tarrin Morgan II 
• This showcase developed initiatives tailored to the unique needs of Black and Brown youth in Annapolis, Maryland. REAL DigitizED in partnership with Annapolis Recreation & Parks Departments, aims to empower low-income youth and provide inclusive opportunities for all, including specific programming for LGBTQIA+, Latine, and Womxn communities. 
• Esports Immersive Showcase Created by Alvaro Brito
• The Compton Unified School District hosted its Esports Immersive Showcase featuring high school and middle school Rocket League tournaments, a live Mario Kart competition, an Esports panel, and hands-on activities for students and families. The event attracted several hundred attendees, highlighted student achievements, and promoted STEAM and CTE career opportunities. 

District / Statewide / Global Implementation

• UCSD Esports Mentorship Program Created by Chris Garcia
• The UCSD Esports Mentorship Program connected UCSD students with middle schoolers from four local schools to provide monthly virtual coaching on digital citizenship, teamwork, career readiness, and wellness in gaming. The program aimed to develop leadership, collaboration, and STEM skills through esports, culminating in an optional in-person visit to the Triton Esports Center. 
• The Positive Elements of Social Emotional Learning in Esports Created by Laurie Lehman
• This project reviews, analyzes, and summarizes the development of the students in Albuquerque Public Schools as they acquired social-emotional skills and experienced related growth through participation in their esports program. 
• Cultivating Young Minds Created by Nyssa Mendoza
• This course is a contextual review and real-world implementation of the NASEF Health and Wellness Toolkit. The sessions focused on mental health awareness, stress management, emotional resilience, and self-regulation — all framed within the lens of gaming culture and Scholastic Esports.  This capstone provides insights and recommendations for adapting the NASEF Toolkit for diverse learning environments and offers a model for integrating mental wellness into esports programming in the Caribbean region and beyond.

Elementary School

• Esports: A New Frontier for Schools in San Juan Unified School District Created by Nicole Naditz
• This project launched a grant-funded K-8 esports program designed to expand access for historically underserved students while fostering connection, collaboration, and school engagement through esports experiences. Building on strong participation, positive student outcomes, and curriculum, the project is now focused on evaluating impact and securing sustainable funding to expand the esports pathway into high school.
• Esports in Elementary Schools: After School Program Created by Thea Patrick
• This program is designed to build students’ teamwork skills, language skills, and social-emotional skills. We consider this program a ‘little-league’ step on their esports journey. The program is designed to promote healthy habits, modeled after NASEF components.

High School

• Integrated Math 3 for Gamers Created by Lasya Kanekal
• In this course, students will learn Algebra, Geometry, and Statistics through a variety of means, including gaming. Gaming is an engaging way for students to develop an intuition for various math concepts before they learn the academic vocabulary to describe it. By playing games in class, the students gain a concrete experience which the teacher can use as prior knowledge on which to build abstract knowledge of mathematics. Gaming can also help students practice their number sense, visualization skills, and problem-solving skills. In addition, making the connection between games and math can help students better understand how games are programmed, how technology is built, and how math relates to the real world and to jobs in the esports industry.
• PDS Trailblazer Esports Pilot Created by Batavia Sumlin
• At Paul Duke STEM High School, a satellite institution within the Norcross cluster in Gwinnett County, Georgia, we are embarking on an exciting journey to establish our very first sports program—esports. Unlike traditional sports, our school has taken a unique path by not offering conventional athletic programs; instead, we are pioneering with esports, marking a new era of competitive play that aligns with our academic strengths.

• Future Visionaries "Empowering the Next Generation of Female Leaders in Gaming and Esports" Created by Lizzie Squires
• Future Visionaries is a 9-week online program (over 1-2 hours per week) designed for young girls aged 13-15 to explore STEM careers in gaming and esports. Hosted mainly on Google Classroom, the program combines digital skills development with leadership, communication, and confidence-building activities. Each week includes an assignment that introduces participants to the gaming and esports industry while fostering essential life skills.
• Empowering Student Leadership in Esports Created by Mario Mendez
• This project is a comprehensive esports leadership toolkit to address coach burnout and promote student ownership within high school esports clubs. This toolkit includes step-by-step guides, training videos, checklists, and a presentation that helps coaches implement student leadership roles. The toolkit is designed to be scalable and adaptable across different schools and coaching styles. 

Middle School

• Level Up! Tinkering, Streaming, and Competing! Created by Sebastian Vasquez
• Students will explore the world of Scholastic Esports by engaging in hands-on tinkering, digital storytelling through streaming, and competitive tournament planning and execution. The course fosters creativity, collaboration, and 21st-century skills such as communication, digital literacy, and problem-solving. Through a blend of DIY electronics, broadcasting, esports theory, and Minecraft-based learning, students become creators and leaders in their own digital arenas.

• Esports Literacy Created by RanHee Lee

• This program is designed to build students’ teamwork skills, communication skills and get an experience of esports careers. This program is an ‘Esports Literacy’ modeled BTG of NASEF components.
• Digital Media in Esports / Computer Game Design Created by Stephen Jacobson
• This is a project-based course that allows students to view and create digital media through an esports lens. Students will creatively express themselves through hands-on experiences with digital graphics, print media, computer animation, audio production, video production, web design and other newly-emerging forms of digital media. Using a variety of tools and techniques, students will create digital media projects while learning about the history of the video game industry and esports career clusters, while getting to play a variety of video games.
  
  

“As a district esports leader, I’ve leveraged the materials from NASEF countless times when building out our program,” said Laurie Lehman, the esports district  manager for New Mexico's Albuquerque Public Schools, which features a complete curricular and career pathway during the day, plus nearly 45 esports clubs in its elementary, middle, and high schools. “What an honor to share my own experience through a program guide that is now published in NASEF’s Community Library. This valuable resource provides an easy way to access hundreds of successful ideas and frameworks.”

About NASEF

NASEF equips education, community and industry leaders to maximize the potential of scholastic esports. As a non-profit, NASEF supports leaders and youth to develop career and professional skills through a unique blend of play and learning. Using its research-backed approach, NASEF guides organizations around the world striving to make impacts through scholastic esports.

NASEF operates under the umbrella of the World Wide Scholastic Esports Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit headquartered in Atlanta, GA. The International Esports Federation has entrusted NASEF with training and supporting its 130+ member federations as they undertake development of scholastic esports programs. Find NASEF at NASEF.org and on X/Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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