Elite Gaming Live teaches esports career opportunities beyond just becoming a pro gamer

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Most gamers don’t get cheered on like star athletes. 

But at Elite Gaming Live, student competitors are celebrated just like sports teams or high school theater, all while exploring potential careers in tech. Instead of a distraction from homework, CEO Alex Sabol sees how gaming can help young people find a community. 

“If you’re into band or you’re into drama or you’re into sports, you have opportunities to be supported, but a gamer usually doesn’t,” Sabol said. “Usually, they’re being told, ‘I’m taking the game away. I’m turning it off.’”

The Baltimore-based esports company combines the fun parts of gaming with educational models to hook young people in while also exposing them to a new career field.

Elite Gaming Live hosts a learning platform where participants earn points by playing games like Super Smash Bros and Rocket League to qualify for an end-of-season championship against teams across the country.

Gaming isn’t the only way to score. The platform also rewards students for following its curriculum about career paths in fields like cloud engineering and animation, a way to spotlight the jobs that go into crafting video games, while showing it’s more than just a hobby. 

“We use gaming as a tool to really engage the kids,” Sabol said. “We want them to see that there [are] opportunities out there that expand on their interest.” 

School partnerships meet kids where they are

Elite Gaming Live partners with hundreds of public, private and charter schools that typically use its platform as an after-school program for students in grades 3 through 12. Its competitions even feature ESPN-style commentators to give the experience a professional feel.

Schools purchase and maintain their own gaming equipment, and the company has worked with programs in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County.

Founder Kerwin Rent launched the company in 2011, initially running gaming leagues for adults at Buffalo Wild Wings. He later brought the concept to schools and noticed how engaged students became when given the chance to play. 

About 85% of US teens play video games and Rent, now the company’s chief product officer, added the educational component to ensure students were learning, not just playing.

More opportunities than just streaming

While Elite Gaming Live exposes students to the world of competitive esports, it isn’t the primary goal to promote it as a career. It focuses on other gaming-related fields instead, like the tech needed to run the programs.

“Professional esports is a young area,” Sabol said. “There’s not a big future in that for most people.” 

Recently, Elite Gaming Live expanded its product so it could be used during the school day as an elective course, where students learn to code and design their own video games. 

In its decade in operation, Sabol has seen former participants go on to careers in gaming companies, working in data analytics and other tech fields.

“That’s what we’re really excited about,” Sabol said. “To see our kids go from just being interested in gaming to actually having a career in it.”