Social Media Mix-Up Leads to School’s Esports Program

An instance of mistaken identity on a social media platform resulted in a school in Leicestershire establishing an esports arena and introducing a qualification in the field. Emily Coulson, an employee at Countesthorpe Academy, uses the online alias Perkz. Her introduction to competitive gaming occurred when she was confused with professional player Luka Perković, known as C9Perkz. This unexpected interaction on X took place in 2021. Currently, the academy provides an esports BTEC and features a dedicated 26-seat arena. Ms Coulson stated that she was initially unfamiliar with esports but became interested after being confused with the professional gamer. She recounted, “I suddenly got 100 followers in an hour,” adding, “I said, oh, I’m just going to post pictures about education and guinea pigs. Who knew that the esports world loves a guinea pig? So I ended up with about 2,000 followers from that night, and I was watching the game and retweeting things.” She further commented, “I understood that games are really exciting to play, but I didn’t quite realise the industry that surrounds that.” Ms Coulson holds a position as a lead practitioner within the multi-academy trust that operates the school, and she also serves as a content creator for the esports team Cloud 9. She mentioned that since being mistaken for the other Perkz, she has gained “lots of different experiences,” such as a journey to New York to observe Cloud 9 in competition. “I’m so proud that I just didn’t let that go and that I really went with it,” Ms Coulson further stated. “I’m most proud of the fact that I then took that idea and those dreams that I had of giving the students an opportunity to take part in esports, and I created this.” Ms Coulson indicated that the individual who initially “mistweeted” her frequently contacts her to express pride and astonishment at the subsequent developments. Following the incident, Ms Coulson investigated the gaming industry further, noting that it possesses “such a diverse level of roles.” She explained that despite the personal nature of the event, her focus shifted to “how can I benefit the students in my community?”. “And then I just had this dream of building an esports arena where students could not only interact and play games and have fun, but actually have an educational quality,” she elaborated. “So I talked to the British E-Sports Association, who run the BTEC for [exam board] Pearson, and I really liked the fact that you could do lots of different skills in it.” She continued, “I liked the fact there was event hosting, there was casting, there was all the logistics of building a brand, as well as the programming of games, and there was such a diverse skillset.” Ms Coulson expressed that she felt “very lucky” that the trust overseeing the school recognized the worth of the esports qualification. For updates, follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Story submissions can be sent to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp at 0808 100 2210. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.