Change Is A Constant

Content, Kids, and Adaptability

I wanted to write about esports accountability. It’s a topic that has been at the forefront of many conversations lately. But, esports is in a state of change. I’m in a transitional period myself, so it only seems fitting to make that the topic for this edition. If you didn’t catch my latest announcement, I’m taking on the full time role as Director of Esports Operations for Fantastic Athletes Corporation. It’s a new challenge, and one that I think will help build stability for esports, but it means a new transition for myself and family. Esports itself is in a transition period, your players at the university level are in constant transition, and you as a coach, director, etc. are constantly in transition. Dealing with transition is crucial to providing esports stability and creating a sustainable industry. It’s time we learn how to remain a stable force while being constantly adaptable.

This change in topic means the content may not flow as well, but enjoy the read!

The Story

As much as we try to hide it, much of who we are is based on our upbringing. Whether for good or bad, our environments made us who we are. Growing up, I moved every 4 years or so. Each stage of school was typically in a different town. No, I wasn’t a military kid. I was a PK, preacher’s kid. This type of upbringing meant that we changed houses, communities, schools, etc. quite often. It wasn’t just moving across town. It was to completely different towns. Adapting to subtle cultural shifts, new ways of thinking, and trying to understand how to connect with a new group of people. I was always aware of how I looked, presented myself, spoke, and any number of things because I may need to slightly change something to fit in. Did this lead to a major lack in confidence and self identity? Without a doubt. Not for any fault on my parents or the lessons they instilled in me. They always told me to be me and be proud of who I am, but when you change little bits every so often, you’re not really sure who you are to begin with.

It became a mission of mine to be who I wanted to be. I was going to be an archaeologist; something that was incredibly unique and would set me apart. I set my mind to that early on, but the universe had other ideas. Even when I thought I had a plan in the works, life…or a recession…got in the way. So, I switched again. I fell back on my IT skills and used my history knowledge to adjunct at a tiny college instead of dig holes in the Middle East. I used my soccer skills to adapt to coaching the women’s college soccer team because they needed a coach. I used my people skills developed through all my moving and life changes to help when I switched into admissions. All in all, life has never stopped throwing change my way. Once I got married, which has now been over 10 years, the change still never stopped. We’ve moved 7 times in those 10 years, and now…finally now, I feel like we’ve found a place and purpose to which we can belong for the long haul. I want to teach my kids how to be adaptable, but I crave for them to have the stability that I never did. I crave that for esports players as well.

People often tell my I’m too positive or nice. Maybe that’s a defense mechanism, or maybe it’s my years of constant change telling me that nothing is permanent and to treat everyone I come across with equal kindness since you never know if you might see them again. Making a lasting impact in as little time as possible is engrained in my personality. It’s what my environment demanded. It’s why the shifts within esports, for better or worse, don’t tend to send me over the edge as I’ve seen with many others. Collaboration is key, cooperation is necessary, and a connected ecosystem is the only way to survive. Trust me. I’ve built my life this way. Esports won’t be stable for years to come. Learning how to handle this constant change is crucial to anyone’s success within the industry, and it’s crucial to a successful university program.

The Esports Angle

People can be incredibly adaptable. Sometimes we just forget that we are. Those who are constantly on the move sometimes forget how to stay still, and those who are constantly still, forget how to move. But, we can all break out of those habits. With many esports students and players, life is constantly changing for them. At the base level, every game has a new patch once a month if not more. Moving up from there, the technology they use constantly changes, the way they interact changes, their fashion, their language, social queues, and more are always changing. A generation used to reflect a 25 year period. Now, it’s 10 years due to the rapid change in culture, technology, habits, etc.

As an esports coach, director, or program administrator, it’s not just about the game. In fact, with most sports, it’s more about the player and team than the actual game; especially when that game could cease to exist whenever a publisher decides. There’s not even stability regarding which conference you even play in or belong to. If it’s this chaotic for esports managers, imagine how it feels to a player. They are not only caught up in the world of esports, but they might play another sport, have classes, be away from home for the first time, and almost all of them are trying to figure out their own identities at the same time. Everything, Everywhere, All At Once…that movie has never been more poignant than for esports and players.

As a coach/director, it’s literally your job to help these players navigate this tumultuous time. Game coaching is great and all, but the impact is made with the relationships. I’ll talk more about instilling accountability in your players another time, but when I hear coaches constantly telling me that “our players would never use that” or “why do this if we can’t get our players to do x,y,z already,” that tells me the example hasn’t been set by the staff first. The notion of constant change and the ability to adapt isn’t understood. The program hasn’t been built with team culture at it’s core. It’s built around the game, grinding, and technical prowess first and foremost. Now, this isn’t a callout to anyone. Just pointing out that it’s an issue. For instance, when you’re the only staff member and have to do everything, it can feel impossible to develop student relationships first. You’re trying to coach 15 games and juggling recruitment. It’s hard. Other times, coaches are too caught up in making a professional production, facility, or gaining big sponsors and the players fall by the wayside. We’re all guilty of this at one point or another. The key is to start now to create effective change.

Collegiate esports is about players first

It’s great to win championships, sign major partnerships, and boast the biggest new arena, but if that’s at the center, then collegiate esports will fail just like the professional scene over the last few years.

Unlike most sports, there isn’t the same level of coaching support built into esports. We’re all figuring this out as we go, and as hard as that is, it doesn’t mean we can let that reflect on how we operate an esports team for our students and players. For many students, their esports team is the only stable environment in their entire life. If they don’t feel valued or share a sense of ownership in that space, you’ve already lost. Forget winning. Start with the students. Start with your team culture. Create a safe, supportive space that prioritizes team dynamics and teaching communication skills. Build bonds between your players. Create camaraderie. Know that change is constant and you can’t stop that by building a room full of computers that you control. Be the lifeline for your players as they get tossed around at sea. Don’t do this for you. Do it for them. It’s time to stop being an event manager or venue administrator. It’s time to actually start coaching our university teams, and many of you are doing a phenomenal job, but we have to keep improving. If you’ve caught yourself using any phrase like those above, let’s fix that.

Ignore any extra sounds you hear…my daughter was breathing on me while recording this, but I didn’t want to redo it 😁

What’s a practical step you can take?

Find one small action that you can do each and every practice to set up a routine. Get students in the habit of taking care of their space and watch the dynamics take hold. It can be as simple as making sure that before a student can leave practice, they have to wipe down their computer station. Maybe you make each squad say one thing they appreciated about that practice. It doesn’t have to be big. Keep it simple to start.

Tools I Use

Butter - It just makes meetings more fun! My honest review is that Butter makes people excited for meetings again.

AppSumo - Because it’s just plain helpful to pay less for software no matter what stage of business you’re in.

Where do I work?

Fantastic Athletes - FantasticWe - Player Development and Esports Management Platform

SERENDIPITY Gaming - Everything you need for esports facilities.