PIERRE (Dana Ness) — A pilot season for esports in South Dakota is helping high schools work out the technical kinks as well as building a foundation of mentors for the future.
At its meeting Wednesday, the South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors heard an update on the pilot season from Kaleb Dschaak, CEO of Fenworks. That company was chosen by the board to provide assistance for esports.
Dschaak told the board that there are 20 schools participating in the esports pilot season with 217 students competing in online games.
“We’ve really had a good launch to the season,” Dschaak said.
There were originally 24 schools in the pilot season, Dschaak said, noting technical problems at four schools forced them to drop out. He hopes to have those problems worked out by the next school year when esports starts its first real season.
The 20 teams all have coaches, known in esports as general managers.
“We have a foundation of mentors,” Dschaak said, explaining that those 20 general managers will be there to help when more teams are added next season.
The pilot season will end with a tournament hosted by South Dakota State University in Brookings. Since it won’t be sanctioned by SDHSAA, Dschaak is calling it a “community” tournament rather than a state tournament.