*By Britt Terrell*
The dreams of teenagers everywhere will come true this fall, when video gaming becomes an official high school sport, sponsored by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
The best high school gamers can earn scholarships to college and turn what used to be considered a distraction into a part of their extracurricular experience.
"There will be millions and millions of kids every year ー especially in the U.S. ー who participate in eSports in an organized way," said Delane Parnell, founder and CEO of Play VS, the startup that will bring an eSports league to nearly 20,000 high schools across the country.
There are already about 200 colleges in North America that offer eSports scholarships, according to Parnell. PlayVS will help these schools recruit in a more organized way, and raise the profile of the best high-school gamers.
"We're excited to be able to own that system as a company," Parnell said in an interview with Cheddar. "We're going to loop in some recruiting technology directly into the platform in which recruiters from colleges will be able to easily recruit players in terms of engaging with them but then also be able to see their performance data from an individual stand point and a team performance stand point validated."
PlayVS is working with game publishers to determine which games will be included in the inaugural high-school season.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/esports-is-coming-to-a-school-near-you).
As 2021 is approaching its end, the meme stock mania that surrounded companies like Gamestop and AMC this year doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Stocks for both companies plunged to their lowest levels in months on Monday, but on Tuesday, traders seemed to come to the rescue, as the stocks for both companies saw rebounds. Great Hill Capital Chariman Thomas Hayes joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Upward Farms is an indoor vertical farming company on a mission to heal our broken food system and reconnect consumers with organic locally-grown food. The Brooklyn-based company uses its controlled environment farms to grow organic leafy greens, which are sold at whole foods markets in New York City. Upward Farms co-founder and CEO Jason Green joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
One of the biggest hurdles when it comes to widespread electric vehicle adoption is consumer hesitation about their ability to keep their EV charged if they take a longer trip outside of their locality. Now, electric companies nationwide are teaming up as part of a coalition to build out a network of EV charging stations spanning major U.S. travel corridors. Kellen Schefter, director of electric transportation at the Edison Electric Institute, joins Cheddar Climate to discuss the coalition's plans, how drivers can compare fueling up with gas to recharging an EV on a long trip, how the charging network will be funded, and more.
The NBA's Golden State Warriors announced a partnership with crypto exchange FTX. It will become the official crypto trading platform for the franchise as well as home to a number of NFTs it plans to drop. Brandon Schneider, president and chief operating officer of the team, joined Cheddar's Kristen Scholer to provide some background on the deal and talked about how digital assets are transforming the world of sports. "We as a society, not just in sports, are kind of at the beginning of the beginning with crypto and NFTs specifically, so we're really excited to partner with FTX to see where we can take this together," he said.
As more states begin to legalize recreational marijuana, there's a growing interest in legalizing cannabis cultivation. As the rise in cannabis farms expands across the U.S., more research is being done to examine its impact on the planet. Michael Katz, executive director at Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, joins Cheddar News to talk about the carbon footprint of cannabis farms.
With the new year right around the corner, people are starting to set lofty goals for 2022. However, research shows that very few people actually attain their new year's goals, and with the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, it may be even tougher this year. Sandee Sgarlata, expert happiness coach and author of 'Happiness Solved,' joined Cheddar News to offer tips on how to actually help your 2022 resolutions stick.
Disney is warning YouTube TV subscribers that networks under its umbrella, like ABC and ESPN, could be removed from the platform this week if the two companies cannot find a solution to their fight over carriage fees.
