President's Message
In Alexandre Dumas's famous tale, the French Musketeers exemplified the highest ideals of unity and inclusion as they declared, "One for all, and all for one." Although Utah came into the national Esports space with a strong, excited, and unified launch, there have been many challenges that have caused this unity to degrade overtime.
Like the Musketeers of old, my goal of this association is to reunify coaches at all levels under a single banner where we can support each other and approach opportunities as a unified voice.
One area of opportunity right now is the pending discussions with the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) to sanction Esports as an activity. As we continue conversations over the coming months, I want to keep you updated on the status of the conversations.
Sanctioning vs CTE
Legitimacy
One of the main reasons for this conversation at all is to gain legitimacy of Esports programs in all districts state-wide. Although both options gain legitimacy, there are no real options in CTE in Utah for the foreseeable future. Sanctioning with the UHSAA would provide immediate legitimacy to help solidify and grow programs in all Utah schools.
Autonomy
Sanctioning allows all school teams to unify under a single organization with a clear vision of rules and sanctioned events. As opposed to CTE, sanctioning allows Esports to remain independent of other outside agendas or requirements and allows coaches more control over the program state-wide.
Flexibility
Right now, sanctioning is really the only unifying options available in Utah for the next few years, but that doesn't mean we are locked into it. Un-sanctioning is really more common than you think and we have the option of leaving sanctioning in the future if a better option, like a good CTE organization, comes along in the future.
Where Are Things at Right Now and What's Next?
The Executive Committee of UHSAA met in November to evaluate emerging sports. They have decided to push the decision of endorsing Esports for sanctioning to March. In the meantime, the Utah Esports Coaches Association is working with coaches, administrators, and CTE directors to gain better understanding of their needs related to Esports and to compile statistics and information to assist the Executive Committee in making their decisions.