ALEX HANEY/UNSPLASH
Two NBA Hall-of-Famers have joined a new team in a completely different arena. All-Stars Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin have combined forces to create a unique after-school program that combines a STEM curriculum with an esports gaming league.
“In underserved communities, one of the big challenges is keeping kids in seats at school,” said Universal Gamers Amateur Association (UGAA) CEO Patrick Kenny. ”So what we’ll do is provide courses the kids actually want to take and combine that with the allure of esports.”
UGAA offers a broad range of classes including sneaker design and marketing, music industry production and management, and social entrepreneurship. The instructors come from across the spectrum — the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York University, Berkeley and ESPN — and from many industries including music, journalism and fashion design.
Originally, the program was to be in beta testing this summer. Then COVID-19 struck, which let UGAA become a full-blown program faster. About 300 students are enrolled in cities nationwide from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York. In the fall, regardless if schools open in person, UGAA plans to serve 15,000 schools across the country.
Students must take the courses in order to participate in the esports component. Richmond said engaging students who otherwise have little interest in school is key:
“When these kids go to school, they’re not really going to after-school programs. I think it’s important to give them opportunities that they’re really interested in,” he said. “Everyone now wants to brand their own thing if it’s gaming, a shoe or clothing, and most after-school programs don’t even have those opportunities. Now we have the ability to go into the community and help these kids, and give them something that they actually like to do.”
Since the courses are presented in concert with Harvard, New York University and other top-tier universities, the students can earn a certificate of completion from those schools, which they can use on a resume or college application.
“We’re really focused on empowering students by helping them prepare for secondary education, career paths and to become leaders in their communities,” Mullin said in a written statement.
For the uninitiated, esports is a booming billion-dollar industry that is a form of competitive video gaming. Typically, multiple players battle against each other, usually in teams, often in matches that are streamed live. Research suggests that by 2021 esports will have more regular viewers and fans than all U.S. sports outside of the NFL. Within the decade, esports is on track to overtake soccer as the most popular sport to watch in the world.
CEO Kenny points out that part of the appeal of esports is its inclusivity. “Everybody can participate, it’s not like traditional sports. If you play high school basketball, there’s five kids on that team. If you’re playing on our basketball team where you’re taking a course that goes alongside it, you could have 20 or 40 kids playing. So, school systems love it.”
UGAA also uses star power to attract more students to the program. They plan to bring in sports celebrities and other marquee names as guest speakers. Chief Operating Officer Dejan Matic said the Compton, California school district was very excited when they heard NBA star Tyson Chandler was just one phone call away from being a part of the learning experience.
“For the kids, it’s hearing from somebody who was them at one point and is successful. Chandler made it, is now coming back and teaching them about something that they’re interested in. That is a really cool tie-in for the school districts and for the kids themselves,” Matic said.
Quarantines may have actually increased awareness of UGAA, Kenny said. “We’ve had more people interested in the program during the pandemic because they may not have had anything else to do. We seem to be right in the sweet spot of what these schools are looking for. We will find a way to make this work,” he said.
Richmond couldn’t wait to start UGAA with his partners and give back to his own community. “It means everything to me to be a part of this program,” he said. “When I was coming up, we didn’t have those resources or these subjects. This is something where you get the kids engaged, you get them off the streets, you get them away from doing things that they would do when they have a lot of time on their hands.”
