Member Article

Esports team manager selected for new role

The manager of Coventry College’s Esports team is set to start a new role which will involve helping more students benefit from the skills needed for the competitive gaming industry.

Shoubna Naika-Taylor, Esports team manager for Coventry Crosshairs and Curriculum Lead for Digital at Coventry College, has been selected as a NASEF Scholastic Fellow. The role will involve working with colleges across the region to implement Esports into their curriculum.

It comes on the back of national success for the Crosshairs, which has been hugely popular among students since launching at the college in 2019, with Esports now also offered as a Level 3 diploma.

The North American NASEF programme involves an international learning community focussed on Esports and embedding it into lesson plans, resources and the wider curriculum.

“The programme is about using Esports as a platform in the curriculum to develop particular skills, especially around STEM subjects,” Ms Naika-Taylor said. “It gives young people those skills so they can utilise and tailor them to whatever industry they would like to go into.

“They use Esports as a topic to implement into the curriculum to help them grow and develop.

“I am looking forward to building on the success of the college’s Esports team and helping more students benefit from the skills and fun which comes with competitive gaming.”

The role will involve working with other Scholastic Fellows nationally and internationally to collaborate on ideas.

Ms Naika-Taylor will then work with other colleges and with students to implement Esports into the curriculum.

It means students studying a range of courses at Coventry College will be able to benefit from Esports skills.

Gemma Knott, Vice Principal for Business Growth, Engagement and Partnerships at Coventry College, said: “The college’s Esports team has been hugely popular since launching in 2019 under the leadership of Shoubna.

“This role is thoroughly deserved and recognises the success of the Coventry Crosshairs. “We are excited to see how we will be able to use Esports in the wider curriculum with the help of this programme, with the potential to bring more opportunities for students.” There is still time to apply to study creative arts subjects at Coventry College.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .