I would have liked to do the sidemount course, but entry level is cave 2. While i do understand why the entry level is cave 2, i don't fully agree with them.
You have no business being in a sidemount passage unless you are full cave (cave2) with a few dives (25+). If you aren't experienced enough to actually be in sidemount sized passage then you should be in backmount and have access to all of your gas and all the other positives of backmounted doubles. There is no place in GUE for sidemount zealots who aren't versatile enough to pick the right tool for the job. I know plenty of divers who sidemount everything (even when its a bad idea) or have no idea how manifolded doubles actually work (so they make poor buddies) - don't be that diver.