GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a one-year adjustment for COVID-19 safety considerations, the Florida High School Football State Championships will return to a multiple location format in both 2021 and 2022. For 2021, classes 1A-3A will return to Gene Cox Stadium in Tallahassee, December 9-11 while 4A-8A will be contested December 16-18 at the newly renovated DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

“The FHSAA is thrilled to partner with both the Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale communities to host the 2021 and 2022 Florida High School Football State Championships,” said FHSAA Executive Director, George Tomyn. “Each location is sure to provide a unique and memorable football championship experience to all participating student-athletes and coaches, as well as their travelling fans.”

After most recently hosting in 2019, both Visit Tallahassee and Leon County Schools will welcome the 1A-3A classifications back to the friendly confines of Gene Cox Stadium. With a spectator seating capacity of 6,500, the Tallahassee community stadium underwent significant renovations in 2018 that featured the installation of a new turf field, along with a pair of HD video boards.

“Visit Tallahassee is honored to once again partner with FHSAA to host the class 1A-3A Football State Championships in Florida’s Capital Region,” said Kerri L. Post, Director of Visit Tallahassee/Leon County Division of Tourism. “We look forward to continuing FHSAA’s tradition of providing exceptional championship experiences for their student-athletes, coaches and spectators and welcoming everyone back to Tallahassee in December.”

Game times in Tallahassee will be 7 p.m. each night on Thursday (Dec. 9), Friday (Dec. 10), and Saturday (Dec. 11), with specific classifications to be determined later.

In partnership with Visit Lauderdale, football state championship qualifiers in Classes 4A-8A will be heading to South Florida and the newly renovated DRV PNK Stadium. Set on the site of Fort Lauderdale’s old Lockhart Stadium, DRV PNK Stadium is currently home to Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami CF and its developmental teams. Opened in 2020, DRV PNK Stadium boasts a seating capacity of 18,000 that will offer fans an intimate football viewing experience for the championship event.

The last time the city of Fort Lauderdale and Lockhart Stadium hosted a Florida High School State Championship matchup was in 1973, when Hollywood Hills defeated Raines (Jacksonville) for the Class 4A title. This year, the South Florida community will be hosting a championship matchup for the first time since 2006, when the entire event was held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens (formerly known as Dolphin Stadium).

“High school football has been a huge part of the Broward County community for decades and it continues to bring people together,” said Stacy Ritter, President/CEO of Visit Lauderdale. “As a proud graduate of Piper High School in Sunrise, Florida, I couldn’t be more thrilled to have the road to the Florida High School Football State Championships end in Fort Lauderdale.”

While specific classification timeslots are yet to be determined, game times in Fort Lauderdale are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday (Dec. 16), and then 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on both Friday (Dec. 17) and Saturday (Dec. 18).

Tickets in both locations will be available for $12 if purchased in advance, and $15 if purchased the day of the game. All matchups will be streamed live via Spectrum Sports. For specific event information regarding each location, as well as information about the FHSAA’s annual Drive to December, please visit the football sport page at FHSAA.com.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Boasting an ever-increasing number of participants, esports (or electronic sports) continues to rise as one of the more popular and unique activity programs for high school students. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and its Learning Center now address the competitive, organized gaming landscape with a first-of-its-kind course – “Introduction to Esports” – which is now available for free on NFHSLearn.com.

“Introduction to Esports” was developed by the NFHS Learning Center in partnership with Butler University (Indianapolis, Indiana) and PlayVS to not only more clearly define esports, but to offer several key examples of esports’ social benefits, inclusiveness, organizational structure and competition.

“The NFHS Learning Center is pleased to offer this online course for esports. These programs are oftentimes misunderstood, and the course provides education on what you need to know and do to get started,” said Dan Schuster, NFHS director of educational services. “Esports provides opportunities for students who may not have ever participated in other school programs, and this allows them to be a part of a team with their classmates.”

Similar to other student activities, esports fosters growth and development in many ways. Students can grow on a personal level, as well as develop key team-building concepts such as coordination with peers, strategy, communication and problem-solving.

Whether it’s one of multiple activities a student is involved in or their first ever, esports caters to the widest possible range of students. Anyone who can use a computer can be an esports athlete. Through esports participation, students build bonds with fellow teammates over a shared passion; no matter the social group, they ultimately become part of a shared community.

The “Introduction to Esports” course is centered around five primary sections. Following the course introduction, the course dives into the background of competitive gaming and how schools can start an esports program.

The latter half of the course offers a more thorough look at the benefits of esports. Schools and students alike are afforded the advantages of specific esports skill development, in addition to increased social benefits, opportunities and inclusiveness. Also addressed are considerations and common misconceptions associated with esports.

Course partners PlayVS and Butler University have deep roots in esports. PlayVS, which is an online gaming competition platform, partnered with the NFHS and NFHS Network in 2018 to assist high schools with starting esports programs. Since the inaugural esports season in October 2018, the NFHS and PlayVS have grown from five member state associations and one affiliate group across five states to boasting competitive teams in high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. There are currently associations in 18 of those states that have partnered with PlayVS for esports competition featuring season-ending championships during the fall and spring semesters. Another 31 states have schools participating in esports without an official state championship.

“Esports is the fastest-growing sport today and many educators and parents have requested more information on the multitude of benefits esports offers to students,” said Aakash Ranavat, PlayVS senior vice president of partnerships and operations. “We are extremely proud to partner with the NFHS on an esports course for the first time ever. We look forward to bringing more education and awareness to esports and seeing the positive impact esports will continue to have on students across the country.”

“Collegiate esports has taken off. Creating esports club and varsity teams is often the first step, but the curricular side of esports is really starting to take hold as well,” said Lee Farquhar, Butler University associate professor and interim director of the Eugene S. Pulliam School of Journalism and Creative Media. “Butler is in an especially strong position on both fronts, and it’s only getting started with more curricular, community and competitive programming ready to lift off this year.”

For more information and to access “Introduction to Esports,” please visit: https://www.nfhslearn.com/courses/introduction-to-esports.

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