Huntsville’s reputation as the 4th Most Prosperous City in the Nation continues to attract new industry, key developments, and community initiatives that help shape the local economy.

And now, a new industry has turned its eye on the once-small Rocket city: Electronic Sports (Esports).

ExploreSkillz Discovery, Inc. has announced that Huntsville has been included in the the list of 16 cities that will host the upcoming summer Project ESE Esports League. Project ESE, which stands for Esports, STEM, and Economic Development, is a national initiative to impact youth education and spur economic development in HUD communities across the United States.

The idea is simple: students and younger individuals will participate in a multi-month NBA2K competition over the summer, guided by local HBCU students, and will be exposed to STEM educational opportunities along the way. The program hopes to incentivize students, via the same games they love to play at home, to get involved in major economic and tech trends across the nation.

Students will participate in a competition against other students and younger individuals from the other 15 cities, and will culminate in a tournament-style competition towards the end of the summer.

For this project, Huntsville is joined by 15 other influential cities that will be included in the first year of the competition: Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Baltimore, MD; Dallas, TX; New York City, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; St. Louis, MO; Cleveland, OH; Newark, NJ; Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; Detroit, MI; and Philadelphia, PA.

When asked why exploreSkillz chose Huntsville as one of the 16 inaugural cities to host the competition, exploreSkillz Discovery CEO Melvin Anderson stated that the city’s sense of community and recent economic growth makes for a perfect system for Project ESE to grow.

“Huntsville is committed to the community, and is a major hub of companies and government agencies that deliver innovative STEM solutions, and the home of Alabama A&M University. We look forward to providing internship opportunities for Alabama A&M University students in the areas of Cybersecurity and AI. In addition, building an esports stadium in a Huntsville Opportunity Zone provides a venue that creates community engagement,” said Anderson.

Project ESE features two major components that will be used to impact the HUD community in Huntsville/Madison County.

The first major component is the Esports League yearly tournament. The tournament will feature an Amateur Esports League for ages 13-18 and a Professional Esports League for ages 19-28.

Apart from a sense of community development and interaction, the Amatuer Esports League will also feature a major educational initiative in the form of professional training in the fields of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics training for esports participants ages 13- 18

To accomplish this, exploreSkillz has partnered with Alabama A&M University to train HBCU students as mentors for Amateur League participants. ExploreSkillz organized this opportunities in the form of an internship that will expose Alabama A&M students to major trends and jobs in the STEM field.

“In effect, this new project is an educational system. It provides experience and leadership roles to Alabama A&M students who are selected to help impact these kids’ lives, and it exposes younger students to major trends in our economy. This will remove many unfair barriers that kids from HUD or underrepresented communities are challenged with when it comes to the future workforce,” said Anderson.

The second main component of Project ESE is economic development. ExploreSkillz will build Esports arenas in each of the 16 cities, including Huntsville, which will provide all the technical components needed for the tournaments. In addition to this, the arenas can be used as community event centers, and will be available to rent for the general public.

The project also consists of constructing eight film and TV production facilities in marginalized communities and “Opportunity Zones” in eight cities to create film and TV content; provide youth training and exposure to careers in the film and TV industry; and create film and TV jobs for adults of marginalized/HUD communities.

In an interview with the Huntsville Business Journal, Anderson outlined how the goals of education and economic development align under Project ESE.

“Project ESE offers an inclusive and career discovery ecosystem for those not reaping the full benefits of mainstream social, economic, educational, and cultural life. It takes full advantage of technology to deliver content that exposes underserved communities to multiple career opportunities. It’s engaging for the end user and at the same time is filling a much-needed void,” said Anderson.

“We are committed to the community, and we’re pleased to deliver disruptive solutions like this one to those who need it the most.”

Project ESE is currently accepting applications for the program. To register, please visit www.exploreskillz.com/esports-league-registration. For additional information, please visit www.exploreSkillz.com.