Organizations collaborate to help connect NASEF students to $16 million in esports scholarships offered by NACE colleges and universities

(Atlanta, GA – March 2, 2021) – The North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) is partnering with the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) to provide meaningful opportunities to high school and college students through esports. 

The tremendous growth of the gaming and esports industry provides students with opportunities to play and compete, to earn scholarships, and to achieve high demand STEM jobs across a range of fields in the industry. As the leading organizations in high school and collegiate esports in North America, NASEF and NACE will work together on:

• Recruitment initiatives: cooperate to build a pipeline from high school play at NASEF schools to collegiate play at NACE schools. 
• Scholarships: award scholarships to NASEF participants to be applied at NACE colleges; over $16M in scholarships already exist from NACE member universities, with new Beyond the Game™ academic scholarships to be jointly sourced. 
• Championship events that connect high school and college students (post-COVID) by aligning game title selection, seasons, and venues for large-scale Fall and Spring events. 
• Educating students, teachers, coaches, and families on opportunities to develop knowledge and skills through an academic approach to esports. 
• Initiatives and joint educational programming to raise awareness of the significant education and career opportunities found in esports. 

“Thousands of high schoolers participate in NASEF’s esports clubs, tournaments, and learning events. This partnership will create strong connections between NASEF member students and colleges that are seeking top esports students and players,” said Gerald Solomon, founder and executive director of NASEF. “Until recently, esports has been a fledgling event in many school environments, but we’re seeing robust growth across the nation as schools adopt our play-and-learning combination that builds life and career skills. This partnership with NACE will now provide youth with the ability to better connect with relevant colleges and gain insight into opportunities for scholarships and quality education.”

“The connection between high school players and college recruiters is vital. This partnership is an important step in connecting the two,” said Michael Brooks, executive director of NACE. “Esports encompasses far more than the players themselves as colleges look for shoutcasters, team managers, audio and video engineers, marketers and more. The partnership between NACE and NASEF will also help students identify educational opportunities to prepare them for their careers of choice in the esports industry, which Newzoo predicts will hit $1.8 billion by 2022. We’re helping students prepare to participate in that enormous and growing market.”

To that end, NACE members were recently invited to join NASEF students in a nationwide Earth Day 3D Ad competition, an event which will build skills for work in advertising, utilizing Epic Games “Unreal Engine” to create 3D video. There are divisions for ages 13-18 and 19-25, with a top prize of $2,500 for individual and team winners in both age groups. 

About NASEF

The North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) is on a mission to provide opportunities for all students to use esports as a platform to acquire STEM/STEAM-based skills and critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in work and in life. NASEF operates under the umbrella of the World Wide Scholastic Esports Foundation (WWSEF). Find NASEF at NASEF.org and on Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

About NACE

The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) is a nonprofit membership association organized by and on behalf of member institutions and is the largest association of college esports in North America. Together, NACE members are developing the structure and tools needed to advance collegiate esports in the varsity space. NACE colleges and universities collaborate to lay the groundwork in areas such as: eligibility, path to graduation, competition and scholarships. NACE represents the majority of varsity programs across North America.

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