By Cam Laffoon, Staff Writer
The beginning of the school year marks the start of football season, which also means fantasy football leagues have begun and rosters are set.
In an attempt to excite his classroom, John Carlisle, a first-year history and Evolution of Gaming teacher at Penn-Trafford High School, has started a fantasy football league in his first. period Evolution of Gaming class.
Fantasy football leagues usually consist of a group of friends or work colleagues, but in this case it is a group of classmates and their teacher. As gambling is illegal in the school, this league will only be played for bragging rights and possibly bonus points.
The goal of this league was to excite the students in the class and to research the strategy involved in drafting and running a fantasy football team. The students were also required to make an avatar for their team, as the class is evolution of gaming.
Fantasy football is something that rarely mixes with the classroom, but it is adding new excitement to learning.
Jake Gdula, a sophomore at P-T, is a member of this league and a second-year player of fantasy football. His inexperience shows in his record of 0-3 in the league. However, Gdula said, “The class usually gets pretty excited.”
Carlisle said he is a long-time fantasy football player, but that experience has not led to success. His team is 0-3 thus far.
“Coming into the first week, they were really quiet, but now when they come into the class, all they talk about is the league.”, Carlisle said.
According to Carlisle, the league has helped the students bond and form friendships out of the classroom. “It allows them to have friends outside of class because they are always talking trash to each other and building good relationships,” Carlisle said.
Although this classroom league is something new and rarely seen, fantasy football has never been as popular as it is now. Whether it is daily fantasy or leagues, the number of people playing fantasy football is higher than it has ever been.
According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, each year approximately 41 million people check the waiver wire, set their lineups and play fantasy football. Eighteen percent of these people playing fantasy football are teenagers.
Joel Fritzius, a senior at P-T, has been playing fantasy football for six years. He is not in Carlisle’s classroom league, but he said, “Winning bragging rights over friends is what intrigues me about fantasy football.”
The popularity of fantasy football can also be seen in the media and on television. There are many fantasy football radio talk shows, segments on ESPN and ads on television. Also, the popularity of fantasy football can be seen in the television show, “The League,” which shows a group of friends and their comedic journey through football season managing fantasy football teams.
With all the buzz around fantasy football, you might start to see more teachers adopt the idea of a classroom league.
Carlisle said that the league has been a success, and “as far it has gone right now, absolutely,” when asked if he will continue the league in the future.