How Online Degree Options Are Changing the Game for Competitive Players and Coaches
Meet Jules Wert, once a competitive Rocket League player, now a collegiate coach at Northwood University , and a cybersecurity major balancing both competition and academics through an online bachelor's program. Her story proves you don't have to choose between coaching or educational goals, you can powerfully do both.
Jules was ready to walk away from Rocket League after solo queuing burnout. Then the pandemic hit and she rediscovered her love for the game through the supportive and tight-knit women’s Rocket League community. What started as casual competition evolved into a space where she thrived and led.
With self-awareness and clarity she transitioned into coaching, applying her analytical strengths and teaching intuition to help teams perform at peak levels. Today, she shapes strategy and mindset for one of the top Rocket League collegiate programs in North America.
In the past, aspiring esports professionals often had to choose between their academic goals and competitive dreams. But institutions like Northwood University are now redefining that narrative.
By offering fully online bachelor’s and master’s degrees, these universities are unlocking a new level of flexibility for students who double as esports competitors or coaches.
Whether you’re managing daily scrims, flying out to LAN events, or analyzing gameplay footage for your team, traditional class schedules simply don’t fit into that lifestyle. Online education lets students like Jules study on their time, not on a rigid campus timetable.
This flexibility also caters to:
Working coaches who manage multiple teams or freelance gigs.
Women in esports, who may face barriers in traditional academic spaces but thrive in personalized, remote learning environments.
What’s more, these programs often provide tailored academic support, career counseling, and access to esports industry resources, all while allowing students to earn their degrees from anywhere in the world.
Unlike traditional student-coaches, Jules takes a unique route studying online while competing at a high level. Northwood University’s flexible esports-integrated online programs made this possible. She manages full-time coursework in cybersecurity while practicing and competing with her team, showing that hybrid models are the future of education in gaming.
She brings together her four-pillar philosophy: Knowledge, Consistency, Time, and Fun into everything she does, from breaking down gameplay to mentoring students on self-improvement. With future goals of combining her competitive edge with AI-driven analytics, she’s not just thinking about now, she’s thinking about what’s next.