Whether leaning against the door of a school’s esports practice space, sitting alongside a child during a coaching session, addressing an assembly of parents, or safeguarding club budgets at an administrator’s desk, the gatekeepers standing between the monetization of esports at the expense of children and the opportunities available to students in this extraordinary new ecosystem have a name: Educators. Fundamental to our very mission is the need to ensure that the experiences of childhood occurring on school campuses across our nation are never captured and converted into commodities for sale in markets that do not prioritize the incalculable value, diverse needs and uniquely distinct journey of each scholar gamer.

Would you be so quick to shut off your child’s video game system if you knew that it could be a portal to a scholarship at an international university or a career in a billion-dollar industry? What about if it led to a reduction in your child’s anxiety, better connections with his/her peers, or an interest in developing better sleep and nutritional habits?