SPIRE is excited to introduce Jack Pennington as its VALORANT head coach, continuing to build the Academy’s esports offering. Pennington is well known in the gaming arena by his gamertag ”Tidal.” As a new addition to the SPIRE family, Pennington brings a wealth of skills and information combined with a strong drive to kickoff SPIRE’s VALORANT team in a big way.

A native of Richmond, VA, he comes to SPIRE intent on using his expertise to cultivate and shape the VALORANT roster into a competitive force to be reckoned with. In recent years Jack has made his mark on the VALORANT gaming scene. He played a pivotal role in building and honing several top-30 rosters, consistently competing against formidable opponents including team such as NRG, Cloud9, EG, FaZE, and others.

Earlier this year, Jack assumed the leadership of Premier Esports VALORANT, a high school development roster designed to help students secure collegiate VALORANT scholarships. Under his leadership, multiple students earned full-ride scholarships at Division 1 schools across the United States.

In a recent interview, Jack reflected on his recruitment to SPIRE, explaining that thanks to his passion for basketball he had already known about the Academy, and when he was contacted about the position, he initially thought it was too good to be true. Once he realized that this was in fact really happening, he became very excited. Now, he is thrilled to be on-campus at SPIRE and told us, “I love the environment. I love the kids.”

Jack commended SPIRE for its commitment to esports athletes and applauded the school’s outstanding internet connectivity and equitable equipment distribution. He also enthusiastically highlighted SPIRE’s dedication to helping students be prepared to flourish in the thriving collegiate esports landscape. He is looking forward to helping students discover opportunities where colleges and universities give full-ride scholarships to collegiate VALORANT players without NCAA restrictions.

Jack Pennington’s appointment as the VALORANT Head Coach underscores SPIRE’s dedication to nurturing esports talent and empowering these athletes to reach their full potential.