OSSAA sanctions esports for high schools
Imagine winning an Oklahoma high school state championship for playing Madden or Super Smash Brothers.
After Wednesday's Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association monthly board meeting, that soon will be something that can happen. The board unanimously approved a motion to make esports an OSSAA-sanctioned sport.
The board approved a three-year contract with PlayVS, an online gaming competition platform that is partnered with the NFHS. The OSSAA plans to use the first year as an exhibition season before starting championship competitions.
Esports have exploded in popularity in recent years, with many states making it a sanctioned sport and hosting championships. In Oklahoma, there are 15 colleges that offer scholarships for esports, and involvement at the high school level is only growing, too.
OSSAA assistant director Amy Cassell, who will oversee esports, said there will be about 60 schools that are interested in initially participating based on a straw poll. That number is likely to balloon after Wednesday's decision.
Executive director David Jackson said the association plans to send out a Zoom link as soon as Monday to schools interested to begin planning exhibition competitions. On Sept. 20, there will be an online rules meeting. Competitions will begin Sept. 28 and be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The tentative list of games, per Cassell, is: FIFA 21, League of Legends, Madden NFL 21, Rocket League, SMITE, Splatoon 2 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
There are various club esports leagues that have offered competitions for high schools in recent years. Now, the OSSAA will have an opportunity to continue growing the sport.
As of May, 18 states had partnerships with PlayVS for esports competitions while 31 others had schools participating in some sort of competition without championships.
Oklahoma City Public Schools superintendent and board president Sean McDaniel said his district installed esports facilities in each of the high schools this summer. So many kids showed up to play once school began, the schools had to have tryouts and now have varsity and junior varsity teams for competitions.
Teams will not be separated into different classes to begin.
Board approves motion to allow OSSAA to modify activities as needed
With the coronavirus pandemic remaining a part of the high school sports realm, the board approved a motion to allow the OSSAA to modify activities as needed this year.
The motion is similar to one that was passed last year. It allowed the OSSAA to modify how teams were selected for playoff competitions when COVID impacted teams playing games and the normal selection process.
For example, in football, the OSSAA added an extra week to the playoffs and allowed any team to play if it wanted. The motion would also allow OSSAA staff to modify selection processes in other sports, if needed, to assist with playoff seeding in relation to the pandemic.