Sheikh Iqbal started teaching secondary school maths in 2015, having been inspired to move into the classroom by his work with vulnerable young people at a youth centre in his home town of Blackburn.
After taking up gaming in 2018 as a way to wind down, Iqbal quickly found that he had a knack for playing Fifa, and picked up a contract as a pro gamer for his beloved Burnley FC – competing in Fifa ePremier League tournaments and manning the matchday game zone at Burnley’s Turf Moor stadium.
The most surprising part of the story? The fact that teaching maths at Tauheedul Islam boys’ high school, in Blackburn, and being a pro gamer not only work in tandem, but actually complement each other. Iqbal, 27, explains more ...
1 Fifa is a brilliant way to bring maths to life in the classroom
Introducing topics such as taxes might feel like alien concepts to teenagers who’ve never had a wage slip, but teaching through the lens of Fifa makes the topics more relatable and digestible to them.
I’m able to use concepts that they know from the game to teach taxes, interest rates, percentages, trends and ratios. For example, when you buy a player, you pay in coins, you’re taxed and you follow fluctuating trends to buy at the best price – so I might pose the question: “If I bought this player for 50,000 coins and sold him for 60,000, reduced by 5% because of tax, how much did I make from the sale?” Or I’ll ask them: “The digital pitch is 1,000 times smaller than a stadium one, so what size is a real pitch?”
Using something familiar to hook them in makes pupils much more likely to listen to the rest of the lesson and readily ask and answer questions when they might otherwise stay quiet.
2 Focus and planning are key skills – for me and my students
As Burnley’s eSports PlayStation captain, my contract requires me to play 30 weekend league games each week, which means I have to use my time wisely – allocating windows for marking, lesson planning and Fifa. I’ve learned to concentrate and work efficiently. These are skills I’ve been able to pass on to my pupils; when they’re preparing for exams, I encourage them to plan wisely and focus, so no time is wasted.
3 Playing Fifa makes me relatable to my students, because they do it too
I’m known for being strict in the classroom – we only talk console games if it’s part of my lesson – but in the corridors, I’ll often have four or five students crowded round asking for tips to improve their game, which is really nice. Sometimes students forget that their teachers have lives outside school, so playing Fifa helps them see me as a real person. Building that rapport makes it easier for them to open up about other stuff too, whereas it might have felt daunting to speak to their maths teacher without the extra connection.
4 Pursuing my goals encourages my pupils to follow their own passions
Who doesn’t want to sign for their favourite football club? When I started playing Fifa in 2018, it was a way to relax. Now I get to go inside all the parts of Turf Moor, something I’d dreamed of as a fan, and even meet players … although I did have to turn down an event with first team goalie Nick Pope, because it clashed with parents’ evening. I think it’s pretty cool that my students have seen me achieve ambitions of my own outside the classroom, and I know it’s encouraged them to pursue their dreams too.
5 I’ve learned it’s all about balance, and that’s a lesson I’m keen to pass on
When I was growing up, at exam time, my family would take the games console away from me; but I tell my students that it’s OK to use gaming as a way to wind down, that it’s all about finding a productive balance. Wellbeing is a big focus, and I encourage pupils to find something they enjoy, like gaming, to break up revision. It can actually be a far better formula for passing exams and not becoming stressed out.
6 Pro gaming has taught me patience – and that’s something I need loads of in the classroom
One of the things I love most about teaching is the interaction with students, but it doesn’t mean it’s always easy. When I was younger, I might have become easily frustrated or angry on the PlayStation, but playing competitively, as an adult, has taught me how to keep a cool head, which comes in pretty handy when you’re managing a class of teenagers.
7 I can show them how maths applies to everyday life
One of the first questions kids often ask in maths is: “When am I going to use this in real life?” A lot of the skills I use in gaming – problem-solving, breaking down something into a step-by-step process – are ones I teach my students through mathematics too. Training your brain to think in a systematic way is as useful in trigonometry as it is in strategy-busting computer games and the day-to-day stuff we face as adults. I knew that through teaching I could make a difference to kids’ lives, but the impact of getting them engaged with maths is beyond measure.
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