Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust: Understanding the Visions and Responsibilities of the Varsity Esports Program Director
Abstract
The budding esports scene has drawn attention from higher education institutions in North America, who are growing community, competitive, and pedagogical esports initiatives. Varsity Esports Programs (VEPs) have proliferated since Robert Morris launched the first varsity program in 2014, with over 12,800 players from 650 institutions competing in the Spring 2023 National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Starleague season alone (Butler University Set To Host NACE Starleague’s Spring 2023 Grand Finals, 2023). Despite this growth, little is known about the Varsity Esports Program (VEP), specifically from the perspective of the directors that oversee their operations. Previous work exploring the creation of VEPs occurred during the early stages of the field's development, focusing primarily on the strategies employed by program directors to garner acceptance for their programs. There is a present gap in how the position of VEP director has evolved to oversee numerous responsibilities and the visions they have for the development of their programs. The purpose of the study was to examine the role of the VEP director by identifying the conflicts directors faced while balancing numerous roles and to provide guidance on how they could make optimal decisions in balancing the requirements of administrators, players, organizers, and publishers in implementing their vision for development. Interviews with 14 VEP directors at North American institutions revealed a broad theme of a holistic vision of development with community, competitive, and career initiatives. Understanding the strategies employed by directors in managing their programs to develop their visions provides insight into how esports directors mitigate environmental pressures and sets the stage for future research regarding the feasible maneuvers that the field can undertake to create a more consistent environment for directors, players, publishers, organizers, and administrators.