In late April, Rashaan Davis was selected as the next assistant commissioner at the Colorado High School Activities Association. He will oversee activities and perform a number of other duties.

To get to know him better, CHSAA Director of Digital Media, Brad Cochi, sat down with Davis to ask a few questions about his excitement for the new role, his background, his vision for the future and more.

Cochi: First of all, congratulations on the new position. Could you please tell us how excited you are to get started and what drew you to becoming the next CHSAA Assistant Commissioner?

Davis: Thank you very much. I am very excited! This is an opportunity that I have been looking forward to for a long time. CHSAA has a great history of creating learning opportunities for students through athletics and activities, and I am excited to now be a part of the team that helps to make that happen. I have been lucky enough to play a small role in each of the CHSAA activities I will oversee. Whether I was advising student leaders, serving as a judge at a speech & debate tournament, or volunteering at a music event, I have had the opportunity to “get behind the curtain” and see exactly how these events are put together.

I love that I am now in a position to work with a network of adults (teachers, coaches, and administrators) who wake up every day looking forward to positively impacting students through their participation in activities. It has been very rewarding to impact students in my own school, but to now be able to impact students across the state? This is beyond words.

In your new role, you will oversee activities, the Hall of Fame, awards/trophies and esports, and will have a wide variety of other duties. What are your thoughts on taking over this grassroots position and how do you see this position growing in the future?

That is a great question. Prior to this even being a position, I had thought about what it would look like to have someone solely in charge of CHSAA-sponsored activities. Those thoughts were always grounded in what CHSAA could do – growing current programs to be as recognized as many of the athletic offerings, the creation of new activities for students who are looking for ways to connect on their campus, and working with other state associations to share best-practices and implementation procedures. Now that this is a reality, I can’t wait to do those things and so many more.

I am also looking forward to the days when we will be adding new activities to what CHSAA already offers. Future activities might include: Robotics, Knowledge Bowl, and middle school leadership conferences, and One-Act Plays. All of my assignments are important, and I look forward to coming in and giving each of them the attention they deserve. The future is bright for activities at CHSAA.

You have a broad background in education. Could you please give us some insight into your background and the experiences that have led you to this point in your life?

In order to answer this question, we have to go back a few years. I grew up in Colorado Springs and attended Sierra High School. Growing up in a military community, that seemed like the logical choice upon graduation, so I joined the Army. My time in the military helped shape me into the school leader I have become. Working with a team, completing the mission, and properly making your bunk each day were skills that have translated well. In college, I was voted student body president at a time when the university was looking to change the school mascot, playing a major role in that process helped me to understand what equity and voice really meant.

Over the years, I have been able to work with students to create programs that help schools in our state to provide the best in extracurricular events for their students. I have built curriculum, managed large budgets for major events and worked with other schools to promote programs. Throughout the years, I’ve continued to share the message of educational equity, voice, and belonging. The end of this school year marks my 25th year in education and in all of those years- having served as a Social Studies teacher, Student Leadership adviser, and Campus Administrator- I have come to know that listening is one of the most important things I can do. And yes, I still make my bed every morning.

What are you looking forward to most about your new job?

As I stated earlier, I am looking forward to bringing new and different activities to CHSAA while building capacity in our existing activities. I am excited to work with school leaders, coaches, advisors from around the state, and the CHSAA advisory committees that work with each activity. I am also looking forward to working with the entire CHSAA office staff. Rhonda has assembled a team that I look forward to learning from and growing with. Fostering relationships, building capacity, listening to the ideas of others, and continuing to produce successful events is what I am really looking forward to.

What advice do you have for the upcoming generation on the importance of education and activities?

Education is the basis for all that we do, and activities can play an important role in helping students frame their view of the world. If we can continue creating opportunities for students to showcase their talent, with the help of caring adults and supportive peers, within the school environment, it can only help them develop skills that the world will ask them to have.

(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

AURORA, Colo. — Today the Colorado High School Activities Association announced in partnership with PlayVS an expansion of its recognized esports title offerings to include FIFA 21 and Madden NFL 21 as part of its ongoing pilot process.

Two of the most popular sports titles in the world, FIFA and Madden boast real professional football and soccer players on their real professional teams. EA’s long-running sport simulation franchises represent all of the excitement of the sports gamers know and puts them in the center of the action. These titles will join Rocket League and League of Legends as esports offerings during CHSAA’s pilot program.

“We continue to see growing interest in esports in Colorado, and this second year of the pilot program has only reinforced that trend,” said CHSAA’s Ryan Casey, who is overseeing the esports pilot. “FIFA and Madden are wildly popular games, and have broad appeal across a wide range of students. So we are absolutely thrilled they will be offered as part of our esports pilot. We anticipate that these games will help increase the growth in esports here in Colorado.”

“The NFHS Network is proud to support the addition of FIFA and Madden to the high school esports gaming portfolio,” said NFHS Network Vice President, Mark Koski. “These are incredibly popular game titles among students — as our first sports titles — we will now offer a new kind of competition to our players and expand the appeal of our platform to a larger audience. We can’t wait to recognize the first-ever FIFA and Madden high school state champions across the country.”

Esports, in nature, allows players to compete in a hybrid of settings – from a computer lab, in-person at school or from a gaming console or PC/laptop at home – which will allow for optimal participation heading into an uncertain school year this fall. With PlayVS, CHSAA has been able to afford students even more opportunities to safely compete and hone their skills in STEM and team collaboration during the current COVID-19 crisis.

More photos. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

Cherry Creek won the League of Legends championship during the initial pilot season for esports on Saturday night at LocalHost Arena in Lakewood.

It is the first-ever esports championship in Colorado during this pilot program which is being run by PlayVs. The fall sports season crowed a champion in League of Legends. The spring season, which begins next month, will compete in Rocket League.

The Bruins, who finished the season undefeated at 21-0, beat Gateway in the finals, 2-0. Cherry Creek won the first match with seven towers to Gateway’s none and a 27-9 advantage in eliminations.

The second game was much closer, with Gateway (20-1 overall) holding a narrow advantage right up until Cherry Creek broke through at the end. Cherry Creek held a narrow 329-315 gold per minute advantage, and took eight towers compared to Gateway’s three. Gateway led in eliminations, 26-20, and in dragons, 4-2.

Cherry Creek was led by Vlad Dolzhenko, who dealt 56,327 damage and had a 13-4 kill/death ratio, and 28 assists. Mergen Enhbold had 44,671 damage and a KDA line of 15/7/19. Matthew Collins had 38,320 damage and went 7/9/23.

More photos. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

Gateway was led by Kevin Tran in the finals, with 45,050 damage and a 9/11/18 KDA line. Sungwoon Kim (42,270, 11/8/13) and Leonid Chyzhykov (39,623, 8/10/14) also had great matches.

A total of 56 teams competed in League of Legends during the fall season, and 16 qualified for the playoffs. Four of those advanced to Saturday’s in person Final 4 at the largest esports arena in the state: Bear Creek, Cherry Creek, Gateway and Highlands Ranch.

The Bruins beat Highlands Ranch in the semifinals, 2-0. They captured 18 towers and nine dragons to Highlands Ranch’s one tower and no dragons. They also led in eliminations, 58-30.

Cherry Creek was again led by Dolzhenko, who dealt 37,554 damage and had a 19-4 kill/death ratio, along with 21 assists. Enhbold (36,528 damage, 16/7/17 KDA), Collins (32,617 damage, 11/5/24) and Avery Lovell (24,406, 10/4/8) also had a great match.

Robin Luo led Highlands Ranch with 43,344 damage and a 18-14 kill/death ratio.

Gateway swept Bear Creek in the semifinals with an impressive performance that saw them hold big advantages in eliminations (50-12), towers (17-0), dragons (7-0) and gold per minute (2,000-1,000).

Chyzhykov paced Gateway with a jaw-dropping 18/2/11 KDA line, and 32,110 damage. Kevin Tran (27,709 damage, 14/4/11 KDA) and Kim (21,197, 10/2/11) also stood out.

Bear Creek’s Austin Yee (13,238 damage) and Christopher Nguyen (12,780) led their team.

Schools looking to create an esports program should visit the esports page for more information, or PlayVs.com.

More photos. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

The League of Legends championships were on Saturday at LocalHost Arena.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

As the initial esports pilot season culminates, the first League of Legends championship will be held this Saturday.

The competitive activity’s semifinals and championship rounds will be held at LocalHost in Lakewood (1882 S. Wadsworth Blvd). Semifinals begin at 3 p.m., and the championship match will be held at 7 p.m. LocalHost is the largest esports arena in Colorado.

The venue’s main stage will play host to matches, giving fans an easy way to follow the action.

“This is the culmination of our first pilot season in League of Legends, and we are really looking forward to a great event at a great venue,” said CHSAA Director of Digital Media Ryan Casey, who oversees esports. “LocalHost is one of a handful of esports-only arenas around the country, so this setting is an excellent way to showcase esports and give the participants and schools a top-level championship event.”

Said CHSAA Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green: “The engagement of gaming has changed from a pastime to a competitive activity, and the opportunity to provide an inclusive connection to the school culture is what CHSAA is meant to do. We are excited about supporting this grassroots initiative with our national partner, PlayVs.”

The semifinals will feature Cherry Creek facing Highlands Ranch, and Gateway playing Bear Creek.

In addition to the matches, the Denver Taco Truck will be on-site to help create a championship atmosphere.

Admission to the event, including entrance to all matches all day, is $7. Purchase tickets at GoFan.co.

The championship match will be streamed live on Twitch.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

AURORA and LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Today, PlayVS furthers its mission to bring esports to high schools nationwide by announcing Colorado as the newest addition to its roster of partnered states. The current waitlist to build an interscholastic esports program with PlayVS is over 13,000 schools long — 68% of all high schools — and spans across all 50 US states. This puts esports on par with traditional programs like football, which is available in 14,247 schools.

PlayVS is teaming up with the Colorado High School Activities Association to bring students a new opportunity. This opportunity reaches students who may otherwise have no outlet for their passions in traditional sports or extracurriculars. Introducing esports into these offerings provides a safe, supervised space to compete while coaches instill critical teamwork, communication and leadership skills.

“We are really excited to start making video games competitive,” said Coach Matt Flori, Esports Coach, Gateway High School. “This new sport targets a whole new type of athlete to get them engaged in the school’s culture and spirit.”

“We are excited as an Association to begin a fully integrated Esports pilot platform with PlayVS,” said Rhonda Blanford-Green, CHSAA-Commissioner. “We believe our partnership with PlayVS will elevate the student experience within an inclusive and education-based environment.” 

“Esports provides a new opportunity for students to become athletes,” said Dr. Clint Kennedy, Director of Education & Acquisition at PlayVS. “It opens the door to scholarships, recognition, and newfound communities on campus. We are excited to work directly with teachers and schools to build out their esports programs this fall.”

During PlayVS’s first year, esports teams nationwide had an average of 15 players per program, with one in three players participating in their first-ever school activity. Over 70% of the students who participated said they found a community to connect with, and more than 40% intend to use their esports experience to apply for colleges and universities.

The cost to participate — $64 per player — is paid for by a parent/guardian or, in most cases, the school. This cost provides students with a full suite of unlocked, in-game content (valued at over $700) and access to the full games themselves (each valued at $20-$60). Most schools already have the required computer equipment in existing labs or libraries, making esports a simple, low-cost/high-benefit program to get off the ground. Schools can register their teams for this upcoming fall season by signing up at PlayVS.com. The deadline for schools to register for this upcoming Fall season is October 11th.

For more information on PlayVS, please visit playvs.com.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

DENVER — More than 300 athletic directors gathered at the annual All-School Summit got a small introduction to esports on Tuesday.

Students from Gateway put on a demonstration with League of Legends matches in the lobby of the Denver Marriott Tech Center. Esports is set to begin a pilot season this fall, and this demonstration allowed the athletic directors to see what a match might look like in their schools.

It was the second esports demonstration within a week — the Gateway team also scrimmaged at the CHSCA clinic last Friday.

The demo was in conjunction with a presentation about esports to the gathered attendees, one of many topics the All-School Summit touched on this week.

The esports pilot will be run by PlayVS this season.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Opinions in this Mailbag do not reflect an official viewpoint of CHSAA.

In this installment of the CHSAANow.com Mailbag, we tackle questions about esports, football alignment, rugby, intentional walks in softball, and more.

To ask a question for the next Mailbag, use this form, or ask on Twitter: Tweet to @jryancasey

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(Chris Yunker/Flickr)

I recently heard that you guys are planning to add esports. I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or not. What’s it all about? And are you really going to say it’s a sport?

— Mike, Highlands Ranch

Alright, let’s dive right in.

The term “esports” has been around for decades now, and likely originated right around the time the Korean e-Sports Association was founded in the early 2000s, according to this article. It’s just a name, so don’t get too caught up in semantics.

As we begin the first pilot season this fall, CHSAA is treating esports as a competitive activity. We aren’t classifying it as a sport.

More than 22,000 high school-aged kids participate in esports currently in Colorado alone. That’s incredible! For context, that’s more kids than participated in any sport CHSAA currently sanctions, and is second only to music of every activity.

The main aim with esports is to bring a kid that isn’t currently involved in their high school community into that community. They’re doing this at home already, so let’s have them do this in a social setting with their peers at their schools.

Esports is co-ed, it’s accessible, and it’s inclusive of a wide range of students. That’s a perfect fit with CHSAA’s mission.

Esports is also a team-oriented competition, and participants will need to meet the same eligibility requirements as traditional athletes.

This video is a great look into the world of esports at the high school level:

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When is esports going to start? Is there more information about it?

— Cayden, Brighton

The first season will begin this coming October, and we will be sending out more detailed information (here on CHSAANow!) in the weeks to come as it firms up.

We will also be having two presentations for school personnel, at the upcoming Colorado High School Coaches Association convention, and then our All-School Summit for athletic directors. That will help disseminate information to their schools and communities.

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(Dustin Price/DustinPricePhotography.com)

Can you explain what goes into creating the football leagues? Who is involved? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

— Josh, Pueblo

This time around, during the creation of the 2020 & 2021 alignment, it was about an 18-month process. I honestly lost count of the number of meetings that were held, but it was dozens, and the overwhelming majority of them were in-person, sit-down, hours-long meetings.

The process included a wide range of people, notably CHSAA assistant commissioner Bud Ozzello, who retired this summer, football committee chair Chris Noll, CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green, incoming CHSAA assistant commissioner Adam Bright, and the members of the football committee, which includes two members representing each classification. There were also meetings which included district athletic directors and league presidents.

Each football committee member spent hours upon hours receiving feedback and talking through alignment proposals with athletic directors and coaches from the classifications that they represented.

In creating the alignment, the following criteria was used:

• Enrollment numbers
• Competitive balance within each conference
• Geography
• Risk minimization
• Success/non-success
• School participation percentage
• Regular season/postseason implications

Ultimately, this alignment was given a vote of approval by the Board of Directors at their June meeting.

The process was thorough, to say the least.

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(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Why did CHSAA dictate to the 5A Metro 10 teams that are now broken up into two leagues in the new alignment that they could only play one cross-over game? They are not dictating to the other leagues who they can play in non-conference.

Are they trying to force those teams to play bigger schools to get those schools a “cupcake” game, and if so then does CHSAA understand the safety and risk factor if some of those schools are forced to play the big schools?

If they are then does CHSAA actually care about student safety, as they claim? Makes no sense, and is asking for player safety to be jeopardized. I bet I won’t even get an answer as CHSAA and really no one at CHSAA actually looks at their decisions and how they really affect the smaller 5A schools. Here is hoping to get an answer to these questions.

— Todd, Firestone

As mentioned above, one of the main criteria used in the creation of the 2020 and 2021 football alignment was risk minimization. It was at the forefront of each of one those dozens of meetings, which included a massive amount of discussion specific to the Metro 10 League, and a similar league in 4A.

The great thing with the new alignment is that this group of rebuilding schools in 5A has expanded from 10 teams to 12, allowing more programs in similar circumstances to play one another during league play.

Additionally, one of the lessons we learned from the 2018 football season, and specifically the Metro 10 League, is that when they only play one non-conference game, their RPI is artificially inflated because they are in an ecosystem of their own. That created issues not only in seeding, but also within the communities of the schools involved in the Metro 10.

So as a result, the committee made the decision that four of their 10 games should be against teams outside of these two conferences. They are not forced to play other 5A schools, and can opt to add schools from other classifications to their schedules, if they choose to.

This move will also allow some of the other programs in 5A who may also be struggling, especially against traditional powers, to open up additional opportunities for scheduling.

In no way was this move made to “force those teams to play bigger schools to get those schools a ‘cupcake’ game.” The CHSAA office does not schedule for individual teams. Regular season schedules are created by schools.

I would say that CHSAA — as an office, as a football committee, and as a membership — does understand the issues at play as it pertains to 5A football. And you can look at the basic fact that these leagues exist as proof of that.

As someone who attended each of those meetings on football alignment over the past two years, I can assure you that the CHSAA office and membership does care an awful lot, and does take serious consideration in every decision being made, no matter who it impacts.

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With the rugby union and rugby league being two of most fastest growing sports in America … when will we see the sport being sanctioned by CHSAA and or a partnership with Rugby Colorado?

— Eli, Denver

They certainly have the opportunity to seek a pilot opportunity through our Board of Directors. The sanctioning process has recently been revamped, and we just saw three sports successfully gain sanctioned status last April: Unified bowling, boys volleyball and girls wrestling. And, as mentioned above, esports is currently in the piloting process.

That being said, before the process was revamped, girls rugby did make a push for sanctioning in recent years, but no league wanted to sponsor a vote for sanctioning. As a result, their quest ended there.

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(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Why does CHSAA allow the automatic walk in softball, in other words waiving the batter down to first base without having to pitch to them? This has the affect of eliminating the best hitters from not only a team, but some of the best hitters in the state from participating in a big part of the game.

A lot can happen with four pitches so at least make the defense pitch to each batter, and if they want to pitch four balls, then great.

— Rich, Loveland

This is a national rule and it was made to bring fast-pitch softball in line with slow-pitch softball rules in April 2018, “to keep up with current trends of the sports and maximize the flow of the game.”

Here’s more information via a press release put out by the NFHS when the change was made.

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What do you guys do in the summer? No sports, right? So do you just have BBQs every day, or what?

— Ruth, Colorado Springs

That’s correct. (To the “no sports” question, not to the everyday barbecues.) Our season ended with the state baseball championships in early June. But there is still plenty to be done.

We hosted a three-day recruiting evaluation event for boys basketball in late June, the first year such events could be held.

Our staff and Board of Directors were also in Indianapolis for the NFHS Summer Meeting, where that organization celebrated its 100th year. (They also unveiled a new logo.) We attended various workshops and roundtables at that meeting, which also offers a great opportunity for networking and sharing ideas. Rhonda, our commissioner, ran a panel on inclusion and diversity within leadership.

The annual Student Leadership Camp is in early July each year, and our new assistant commissioner Justin Saylor is there leading it along with curriculum director Rashaan Davis. (Our whole administrative staff made visits to the camp this week to take part, as well.)

The summer months are also great for working on projects, and planning ahead. I use it to tackle major projects. In the past, I’ve completed a redesign of this website in the summer.

Of course, the summer is a great time for the staff to take some much-needed time off to recharge.

And, yes, we have had one staff barbecue over lunch this summer.

(Pittou2/Flickr)

AURORA — Colorado is dipping its toe into the realm of high school eSports.

CHSAA’s Board of Directors on Wednesday voted to approve eSports as a pilot activity, a first step along the road to potential sanctioning.

“eSports has the potential to provide opportunities for more students to become engaged in their school and communities,” said CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green. “Many of these participants may not be involved in any other activity in their school. eSports will provide the same opportunity to this population that many other traditional sports and activities have provided to other students in their schools.”

The Board heard presentations from Sean Collins, an assistant principal at Arvada West, and Laz Alberto, the vice president of PlayVS, which is the official eSports league of the NFHS and a leading authority in the genre.

eSports would be treated as a competitive activity under the CHSAA umbrella, if all hurdles along the way to sanctioning are approved. If all steps along the process are completed, it could become sanctioned in 2022.

“Gaming pares down boundaries,” Collins said. “This is who I have on my team: A varsity wrestler, a varsity baseball player, a cheerleader, I have kids from marching band, I have kids who aren’t on any other teams. And they are all playing on the same team, competing against kids from the other Jeffco area.”

The first of the pilot seasons will begin this fall.

eSports teams will be co-ed. There will be no classifications, and the fact that matches are played online means there are no travel costs associated with the activity.

“If adopted, this would be the first competitive activity that has no boundaries or classifications,” Blanford-Green said. “A kid in rural district, such as Springfield, could easily compete against a kid from a metro school, for example, a Cherry Creek.”

CHSAA’s pilot will be run by PlayVS, which recently completed an initial season with five states. During that initial season, 41 percent of students on eSports teams had never participated in a school-sponsored activity.

This season, PlayVS will run competitions in 15 states.

“Kids are already playing eSports,” Alberto said. “Your kids care about eSports. Us entering into this field will be a meaningful opportunity.”

PlayVS has partnership agreements with various publishers, and offers the following games: League of Legends, Rocket League and Smite. The setup calls for fall (October to January) and spring (February to May) seasons, but CHSAA would look to combine the two into one season during the winter, if sanctioned.

“We believe that it would be more impactful as a standalone during a winter season showcase,” Blanford-Green said.

(Michael Arsers/Flickr)

INDIANAPOLIS — The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the NFHS Network have entered into a partnership with PlayVS to begin the rollout of eSports competition in high schools throughout the nation. 

PlayVS, an online gaming provider, will work directly with the NFHS and the NFHS Network to introduce esports to high schools and state associations beginning this fall, with an initial rollout in at least 15 states. After regular-season competition between schools on the PlayVS online platform, state championship games will be played before a live spectator audience and streamed on the NFHS Network. 

“PlayVS’ philosophy on high school-based sports and focus on participation perfectly aligns with the NFHS and its member state associations,” said Mark Koski, CEO of the NFHS Network. “We looked at many potential eSports partners, and PlayVS was the clear choice thanks, in part, to its overall education-based concept, mission and vision.

“As schools look to provide participation opportunities for high school students, esports is a great option on two fronts,” Koski said. “First, eSports may involve students who haven’t been involved in a sport or activity in the past. Second, the costs to implement eSports are minimal compared to starting a traditional sport, which can be extensive with equipment and facilities.”

Koski noted that with 72 percent of teens playing video games regularly, eSports is a great way to engage additional students with after-school activities. Nearly 200 colleges in the United States and Canada are actively recruiting and offer scholarships for eSports. Additionally, companies within the eSports industry are looking to hire those with experience across multiple aspects of gaming.

“We believe the NFHS, NFHS Network and PlayVS make a great team to help jump-start esports activities in high schools across the country,” said Bob Gardner, NFHS executive director. “With the rollout of this partnership, we anticipate that there will be tremendous initial and growing interest in eSports from students, and we are excited to broadcast these events on the NFHS Network.”

PlayVS will operate all eSports competitions for NFHS member state associations in a turnkey fashion. 

“We’re excited to partner with the NFHS and NFHS Network to introduce eSports in high schools nationwide,” said Delane Parnell, CEO and founder of PlayVS. “This partnership combined with our technology and publisher relationships will help us create the first scalable competition for high school students. eSports is about more than just playing games – it can be used to help students grow their STEM interests and develop valuable life skills; and since there are more high school gamers than athletes, it’s about time we foster this pastime in an educational setting.”