CHSAA hosts first Activities Directors Summit
In the Colorado High School Activities Association’s continuing efforts to grow and amplify activities programs, CHSAA, and its assistant commissioner for activities, Rashaan Davis, hosted the inaugural Activities Directors Summit on Tuesday in Centennial.
“Today marked the beginning of something very special,” Davis exclaimed. “To have activities directors in the same place, sharing in successes and missteps, and gaining an understanding of the CHSAA mission for activities was one of the best days of the school year. We now understand what activities directors, apart from athletic directors, need from CHSAA. I look forward to bringing this group together again in the fall, knowing that we are onto building something really special for Colorado’s high school students.”
The group discussed the role of activities on their respective campuses, and shared visions of where activities can go. The summit also provided an opportunity for directors to share their highs and lows, discuss concerns, and make sure everyone is working together to promote the mission and vision of CHSAA activities.
“This is my 15th year as an activities director in the state of Colorado, but my first opportunity to get together with other activities directors,” Fossil Ridge assistant principal and activities director Brad Nye said. “This was a huge step in a very positive direction for making activities an even bigger staple in our state for kids. Just making it a priority at the same level as athletics, and getting an opportunity for leadership at CHSAA to give us an opportunity to dialogue together and learn from each other, it was a big day.”
Representatives of PlayVS, the official platform and league for high school eSports, also gave a detailed presentation on the basics of the eSports program, which has had three pilot seasons and is set to become an officially-sanctioned CHSAA activity in the fall of 2022.
“Something like (this summit) really energizes the room in terms of generating more interest in a new activity/sport,” CHSAA eSports committee chair Shawn Collins stated. “So many of the activities directors out there don’t know how to get an eSports program started, and they are nervous and scared because they’ve never had to deal with something like this before. To have an opportunity to have all these other people who have done it in the same room is really helpful for the future of eSports as it grows in Colorado.”
At the end of the day, Davis expressed his plan to host an activities meeting twice a year, with the next one coming in August before the start of the new school year.
“Activities, in many cases, are the true backbone of a school’s culture,” Davis added. “To have AD’s together, sharing resources, open to great conversations, and looking forward to creating something that their students can own is appealing to me as an assistant commissioner. I know that we will be stronger as a state because of something as motivating and meaningful as today’s summit.
“I know that this was a first for CHSAA, so I loved being a part of it.”
For any activities directors with a story they want told or an event they want to share, email Rashaan Davis at rdavis@chsaa.org. If you post any activities related content on social media, please be sure to tag @CHSAA so that it can be shared.
