My privacy and full disclosure page is pretty straightforward. It says, among other things:

I don't currently have any sponsors or advertisers. If that changes, I'll make it clear.

I don't write sponsored posts.

If I have any kind of relationship with someone or some place I'm writing about, I'll tell you.

So I want to tell you about my new partnership with the Ekuso Virtual Esports Academy. Technically, Ekuso isn’t sponsoring me; they don’t pay me anything. In fact, I’m sponsoring them. I happen to think the Apply with Sanity logo looks pretty good on their uniforms. It’s more of a partnership, and I want that to be transparent when I write about esports or share any of Ekuso’s content. All of my writing is still 100% my own: not written, reviewed, or approved by Ekuso or anyone else.

What do I like about Ekuso? A few things.

First, my own teenager is a team member. When they first approached me about joining an esports team at their school, I honestly didn’t think much of it. I know nothing about video games, and I imagined it would basically be an in-school club where they could play with friends. But being part of the team had drastic effects almost immediately. My kid was growing not just in their League of Legends skills, but their self-knowledge, confidence, and leadership skills as well. All the things you practice when playing on a traditional sports team, like discipline, sportsmanship, leadership, communication, and strategy? That’s no less true of esports. Although I still have trouble following the action of a League match, I at least now understand how important esports can be for young people.

There’s also an obvious college admission connection. Many universities host esports teams, and many of them are actively looking for players to fill those teams. Esports is a legitimate activity that students can explain on college applications. Being on a team with coaching, rather than an individual player, can have real advantages both for your development as a player and as a college applicant.

That’s what I like most about Ekuso. They’re not just hosting video game tournaments. Karlin Oei, the founder, is an impressive player and a focused coach. He’s a gamer and an entrepreneur, and he’s also an educator.

This partnership won’t have an huge impact on the content or tone of Apply with Sanity. But you will see me sharing news about Ekuso here and on social media. You’ll see me more interested in esports at the high school and college level, which I’d probably be doing anyway. I’m also planning some free college admission webinars for Ekuso students and families, probably beginning in March.

And if you’d love an introduction to what organized esports looks like at the high school level, check out Ekuso’s tournament on November 13. It will be streamed live on their Twitch streaming page.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are two easy things you can do:

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Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth.

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