09/27/24 – Updated ESPORTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS ON THE KY K-12 INTERNET SERVICE – AN UPDATE ON THE NINTENDO SWITCH TITLES

September 27, 2024 Athletic Department Blog Updates

The KHSAA and KDE wish to provide an update to a previous blog post regarding the playing of Nintendo Switch eSports titles on Ky K-12 Public School networks.

Since the recent transition to the new KY K-12 Internet service, provided by Education Networks of America (ENA) and implemented in the Next-Generation Kentucky Internet (NGKI) project, Nintendo Switch games appear to work well. With viable tests conducted in district locations across the state, we are hopeful that the transition provides a new opportunity for districts to compete safely and securely from their school locations. There is nothing special that KDE has put in place or allowed when transitioning to our new statewide internet service that helps successful connection to the peer-to-peer competition space. KDE encourages each district and school with a KHSAA eSports team competing using the Nintendo Switch to first see if the KHSAA Nintendo Switch games will work over our new KY K-12 Internet service before pursuing additional options.

All the non-Nintendo Switch games (i.e., League of Legends, Rocket League, Madden) played by KY K-12 students who are members of a KHSAA eSports team have always and continue to work well over the KY K-12 Internet service that is also used daily by all 171 KY K-12 public school for instructional and mission-critical operational purposes. This also means these three non-Nintendo Switch games work well with the cybersecurity and cyber safety services required by KY state law and the federal e-rate program.

**For the 2024-2025 school year, any technology-enabled service that uses the KY K-12 core Internet service from any KY K-12 public school and district office in KY, must work within the existing KY K-12 cybersecurity design. That means the vendor marketing or selling their product to KY K-12 public schools must make the changes to their product to allow their product to work within that KY K-12 cybersecurity framework and should not be asking any district or the KDE to change or turn off any component of its cybersecurity defenses for their product/service to work over the KY K-12 core Internet service. This applies to current and possible future titles in competitive eSports through KHSAA.

1. If planning to use the KY K-12 Internet service (from a school campus or facility) as the “field of play” for eSports participation, any game offered by PlayVS to school districts must work over the existing KY K-12 cybersecurity design framework of the KY K-12 Internet service, must be tested well in advance of competitions, and must not be played during instructional hours (between the hours of 6 AM to 4 PM all seven days per week); OR
2. If any future game needs a weakened cybersecurity defense environment from the location that it’s being played from in order to work, that game will not work over the existing cybersecurity framework for the KY K-12 Internet services provided to each school district. Therefore either:

1. 1. 1. the vendor selling that game needs to change their product so it will work over the cybersecurity defense framework for the KY K-12 Internet services; or
      2. that game will need to be played using a “field of play” from a location and Internet service (e.g., an additional Internet connection, at home, an Internet hotspot, etc.) that does not use or connect to the KY K-12 core Internet service.

KDE continues to advocate for and support KY K-12 student participation in all the different types of KHSAA teams and competitions, including eSports. KDE also understands the importance of having members of any KHSAA team together when practicing and competing, including eSports.

For Kentucky Public K-12 district-owned Nintendo Switch Consoles, please reference KHSAA/KDE instructions on how to disable the “hidden” Switch Web Browser:

https://khsaa.org/9-18-2023-disabling-the-hidden-browser-on-district-owned-nintendo-switch-consoles/