The Academy of Esports

Welcome to Episode Three of Y6 of The Academy of Esports podcast!

I’m your host, James O’Hagan. Thank you for joining me as I welcome a friend, a mentor, and a global legend in esports and education— Mark “Garvey” Candella, former founder & director of Twitch Student and current Chief Business & Strategy Officer of AcadArena.

Garvey joined me from his home base in the Philippines to share a journey that has taken him from a...

Welcome to Episode Two of YEAR SIX of The Academy of Esports podcast!

I’m your host, James O’Hagan. Thank you for joining me as I welcome a good friend from across the sea, Stuart Dempsey, the Founder and CEO of GamerFest Dublin, Ireland’s largest esports event.

In the aftermath of Brexit, Ireland was elevated to the role of premier English-speaking nation in the European Union. The impact of this on esports opportunities is massiv...

Welcome to PART TWO of Episode One of YEAR SIX of The Academy of Esports podcast!

I’m your host, James O'Hagan. Thank you for joining me as I welcome back my friend, Amir Satvat, the global head of startup operations at Amazon Web Services.

Before stepping into their current role, Amir experience included chapters as a principal publishing producer and key positions in business development and strategy at Amazon Games. They als...

Hello and welcome to the first episode of the sixth year of The Academy of Esports podcast!

I’m your host, James O’Hagan, the Vice-President of Education and Innovation at LeagueSpot, and an educator for over two decades. Thank you for joining us for Part One of what is surely going to be one of my favorite conversations in this podcast’s history, as the subject is a dear friend and source of constant joy to all who know them. 

Ami...

The Academy of Esports podcast welcomes Melissa Burns, a leader in scholastic esports in Canada, in honor of International Women's Day. Melissa is the founder and chair of Esport Canada, one of the largest Canadian esports organizations committed to excellence in gaming and supporting the growth of the Canadian esports ecosystem by connecting and amplifying diverse gaming communities. The organization values holistic development an...

Leah Koons is a 10+ year gaming event and marketing veteran who has navigated and developed business relationships for endemic and non-endemic brands to the gaming industry. In our conversation, Leah invites the listener to learn how to be a successful and lasting presence in the game industry. For Leah, a bachelor's degree in psychology was the start. But it was an early decision to focus on the business of games that has led her ...

Dylan Liu is not one to not have an opinion on the state of collegiate esports. That is one of the things that makes him such a compelling guest for a conversation! Since 2011, Dylan has been involved in collegiate esports while founding the team at his alma mater, Texas A&M, and now serving as the CEO of his company, Uconnect. Uconnect provides a platform to help collegiate programs and clubs to connect with potential sponsors...

James Fudge has nearly 25 years of experience as an editor and journalist covering the video games industry, having worked for such companies as Avault, IDG Games' Games.Net, Computer Games Magazine, GameSpy, IGN, GamePro, GameShark, GamePolitics, GameCulture, Crispy Gamer, and more.

Over the last three years he worked behind the scenes at The Esports Observer, where he served as senior editor for two years helping to shape the qua...

As Head of Education at British Esports, Kalam focusses on delivering growth and development of esports in education across the UK and beyond. 

The recipient of the prestigious Pearson National Teaching Award for his outstanding commitment to digital innovation, Kalam, an experienced teacher, educator and educational leader previously served as Esports Programme Lead at Barnsley College, where he co-wrote the Esports BTEC (Business...

Will English IV (the fourth!) grew up wanting to be in broadcasting. He had various jobs growing up but imagined myself as a newscaster or a weatherman, but the path to a stable career was very long. A competitive gamer at Homewood-Flossmoor High School and Northern Illinois University, Will saw esports as an opportunity to meld those worlds together. In this episode, we dive into Will's passion for the Fighting Game Community (FGC...

Dr. Seth E. Jenny returns to The Academy of Esports!

Dr. Jenny is an assistant professor within the Department of Exercise Science and Athletic Training at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (SRU).  As an esports academic, Dr. Jenny is a performance advisor to KovaaK 2.0: The Meta FPS aim trainer, founding member of the Esports Research Network, Deputy Editor of the International Journal of Esports, and Associate Editor ...

Dr. Rachel Kowert is a Research Psychologist, the Research Director for Take This, a non-profit organization that provides mental health information and resources to the gaming community and industry, and is a Henry Cavill aficionado. Dr. Kowert has been featured in various media outlets, including NPR, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Wired, and video game publications such as Kotaku and Polygon. And now...

Andrew Czysz is a shoutcaster for the Horlick High School Esports Team and for the Wisconsin High School Esports Association. At a young age, Andrew has already attracted attention for his calls of the game "Rocket League," been interviewed by one of the largest newspapers in the United States, and even interviewed NFL royalty. Andrew is an example of the potential of possibilities beyond the games in scholastic esports. 

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Hillary Phan is a trailblazer in the space of Collegiate Scholastic Esports. She was a part of an amazing core of people who helped to build the University of California-Irvine Esports Program. She has also been a long-time advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. Her work with UCI, and now, AnyKey, and VOICE are critical in building a vibrant gaming community beyond varsity level competition. She will also be a panelist at th...

At the start of the COVID Pandemic, Kevin Fair of I Play Games took the bold step to join up with the Chicago Park District to offer an NBA2K tournament to local children. What happened after that is nothing short of amazing! Learn about the great things that came about from the passion and love Kevin has for Chicago and the forward thinking of the CPD and their relationship with video games.

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Kevin Fair // LinkedIn // Twit...

The work of Stephen Reid is a major influence on The Academy of Esports Podcast.

Stephen is a passionate advocate of both play as a powerful learning mechanism, and technology as a tool for learning. Spanning an education career of 20 years, he has used over 140 off-the-shelf games to teach in over 70 countries worldwide.

Minecraft sits at the heart of his teaching toolkit for curriculum, and social and emotional learning, as well ...

In this conversation, Dr. Samantha Blackmon, Associate English Professor at Purdue University, discusses not just her work at the university but also as a researcher interested in DEI issues in gaming. Dr. Blackmon champions working specifically on ways to bring people together from the games community, the games industry, content creators, and esports in order to bring about positive change in the games space.

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Dr. Samantha Blac...

In this episode's conversation, Dr. Roberto Gallardo, the Director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development comes onto the podcast to talk about the current state of Internet connectivity in rural and urban areas. The issue is very much front of mind for many, especially in how it impacted education access during the height of the COVID pandemic. Now, as more dollars are flowing into the connecting homes to the Internet, Dr. G...

Dr. Rachel Kowert is a Research Psychologist, the Research Director for Take This, a non-profit organization that provides mental health information and resources to the gaming community and industry, and is a Henry Cavill aficionado. Dr. Kowert has been featured in various media outlets, including NPR, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Wired, and video game publications such as Kotaku and Polygon. And now...