‘For me, that’s been the biggest lesson, being committed to something no matter what it is.’

Smithtown

“Growing up in Liverpool, England, it was always football first for me – soccer here. Since age 9, I’d been taken out of school to play. Academics weren’t really my strong suit. I played for Liverpool and was lucky enough at age 12 to play Danone Nations Cup. I played in France in front of 15,000 for the Danone Nations Kids World Cup.

“At 16, I got a professional contract and played for two years. But then I got injured and decided to look into playing at college. I applied in the States and got 15 full- scholarship offers. I chose Quinnipiac [University] in part because their motto was the same as the Liverpool Football Club, ‘You’ll never walk alone.’

“After the first few months, I realized my love for soccer shifted to academics. I finished my undergraduate media studies degree and master’s in interactive digital media in five years and was on the dean’s list throughout. I wanted to develop my own business but didn’t know what that was going to be.

The biggest decision I made was coming to the States and taking a leap.

“As an international student after college, you need to be sponsored. I applied everywhere with no luck. I had a good resume and my soccer career, being college captain and finishing with the most wins. I thought it showed commitment and drive. No one wanted to touch me.

“One of my coaches was selling goalkeeper gloves, and I offered to create a marketing campaign for free. He was my first client. I met someone from the Liverpool [FC] Supporters Club who invited me to join, and a member contacted everyone for me. That’s how I got my sponsorship from a Liverpool retail company and started blogging for them. I developed my own company in 2019, Social Scousers.

“A scouser is someone from Liverpool, and my logo is a liver bird, Liverpool’s jersey crest. We have 20 clients now. Liverpool’s always been something with me throughout my life. The biggest decision I made was coming to the States and taking a leap. I was always supercompetitive and applied myself, whatever I was doing. It just always happened to be soccer, and then when I moved here, I committed to education.

“For me, that’s been the biggest lesson, being committed to something no matter what it is. I’m proud to be able to go back to where I’m from — on business now — and I’m proud of the city I came from.”

Interviewed by Liza Burby

‘The lifelong collateral damage after even one stay in jail is financially, emotionally and socially devastating.’

Calverton

“I’ve taught in higher education since 2003 and seen the transformative power of education. I also know the life-changing effect it had on me as a student.

“High school wasn’t something I enjoyed. I might have dropped out if it weren’t for a few teachers and my mother’s insistence. I was raised by a single parent who no doubt had her hands full with me, never mind my three other sisters.

“It was at the urging of my senior-year English teacher that I applied to college; otherwise, I likely wouldn’t have done so. I loved it. I loved the independence and learning about different ideas, experiences and people.

“I slowly became more aware of my connection to the world and its connection to me. For me, college summoned so much, including the courage to explore my sexual identity, in time feeling safer to come out.

We needed to create a program conducive to the environment.

“Eventually, I obtained my PhD. Like me, there are people who don’t enjoy high school — and for different reasons than my own. I find nevertheless that people want to learn and like learning. I’ve experienced that in the jails where I teach college-oriented modules. I want those students who others have counted out and underestimated.

“Like many, I have family members who struggled with addiction and ended up in jail. The lifelong collateral damage after even one stay in jail is financially, emotionally and socially devastating. So I founded Sound Justice Initiative Inc. [SJI], and in July 2021, we began teaching in Suffolk jails.

“The first six months we had 96 class seats occupied; in 2022 we had over 500 seats taken in our classes. Jails are short-term facilities, which typically don’t offer college-level opportunities because the population is in flux. We needed to create a program conducive to the environment. For our students, it’s not always easy to concentrate. Their lives have been upended. They’re worried about their kids, parents and other loved ones.

“The fact is, many will leave jail and reenter our communities. For those who qualify, SJI helps establish an education pathway plan for reentry. After all, it’s more likely that if they attain a degree or obtain advanced vocational training, their children will follow and end the family cycle.”

Interviewed by Liza Burby

‘I saw the esports industry was growing rapidly. Millions of people play and watch across the world, and there are billions of dollars out there in prizes, fees, and sponsorships.’

Mastic Beach

“I got into esports, or competitive, organized video gaming, about four years ago. I was working with a friend at the NYIT STEP program, [the] NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine Science Technology Entry Program. We were working with high school kids, teaching them how to create a podcast, and I started to notice that when kids were given the opportunity to speak, they were very, very into esports and online gaming. It got me thinking, and I saw a chance to turn their interest into opportunities.

“Long Island Gaming League, LIGL, which I founded in 2019, really came from asking myself, ‘How do I reach the kids in a way that is going to be beneficial to them?’ I saw the esports industry was growing rapidly. Millions of people play and watch across the world, and there are billions of dollars out there in prizes, fees and sponsorships. I knew there was a real opportunity for anyone who understands the business side of things to take advantage of.

“But they had to understand that esports had to be more than just kind of playing video games. I wanted teens to think about gaming more than just, ‘How do I beat a high score?’ I wanted them to be thinking about jobs esports could turn into and what business opportunities were out there.

“Today, we work with about 150 students at Wyandanch High School. The students take our class during the school day. I went to school for business administration and marketing, so I don’t have a teaching background, so we hired teachers who are looking to work within esports. They go into the classrooms with students, and we handle the curriculum and everything else.

“The course teaches students about the history of esports. We also educate them on different facets of the business — whether it’s team development, managing, sponsorship, marketing — we kind of take them through that whole process. We have guest speakers who are in the industry who will talk to them, too. The goal at the end of the course is for every student to have a portfolio that includes a league logo they created and an esports organization in which they’ve developed. We hope they can build upon that as they continue outside of high school.”

The idea of esports and gaming is so misunderstood, but once people start coming together and really seeing the benefit…

“The first year we started, we opened the class up to students in 10th through 12th grade. It was very cool to see how they were able to work together. They’re put into teams, and we were watching how they were able to work together and create their own mini organizations. They all had to submit a final project based on their work.

“LIGL [Long Island Gaming League] does more than just work in a classroom setting. I work on building community in the esports industry overall, so we’ve worked with and reached out to local churches, local nonprofits, community organizations and libraries.

“We recently held an event at Levittown library. We had students from our high school [program] come out. We had two colleges come out, NYIT and Long Island University.

“We also talked about our esports development program that’s currently in Wyandanch High School to give other districts ideas of what they could do with the curriculum. We talked about the different types of opportunities schools can provide, like creating esports clubs and playing games competitively amongst themselves. And we talked about what happens after high school, what are some of the business opportunities around esports.

“Outside of the schools and library programs, we work with local youth organizations, in general, to educate them. It’s not just for teenagers, either. For gamers who missed playing esports in high school and who are out of college and still want to hang out with their friends in a more social way, we do what’s called a bar takeover.

“We work with a bar called Ghost in Bay Shore. Instead of being looked at as an outcast or just a gamer, they are able to see each other as like-minded people from a variety of industries — whether they might be a lawyer, a teacher or a mechanic. They can all come out and just hang out and have a good time playing some video games.

“Going forward, we want to continue to build a stronger esports presence on Long Island, working with other Long Island sports organizations. The idea of esports and gaming is so misunderstood, but once people start coming together and really seeing the benefit, I think Long Island itself can be a resource for the growing industry.”

Interviewed by KJ Bannan