My child wants to be an Esports athlete. What do I do?
A little over 10 years ago, the word “esports” wasn’t even a real word. Thanks to the rapid technological advances and accessibility throughout the globe, it officially entered the english lexicon in 2015.
Just like its analog counterpart, esports needed its own athletes.
The similarities between sports and esports extends to its athletes, although there are unique differences. This article is intended to arm parents of children who are enamoured with the world of esports with the facts needed to make informed decisions.
Is Gaming Healthy?
The short answer: yes.
The activity of gaming itself has been proven to give long-lasting benefits such as improved vision, reflexes, focus, multitasking competency and logic. However, it should be noted that the benefits are skewed heavily towards sensory and mental health. Therefore, the long hours hunched over a controller or mobile device will have its physical effects. The world’s best esports athletes maintain a healthy diet and physical exercise on top of honing their gaming skills in their professional regiment.
Is Esports the same as Streaming?
No, they are not.
The distinction between esports and streaming careers must first be established; esports is competing in gaming tournaments, usually as a player for a professional esports organization; streaming is the act of creating live content through playing games and interacting with an audience on a platform.
This is a common confusion as there are famous esports athletes who are also successful streamers. As the professional skills of an esports athlete is one that warrants high viewership, the overlap between esports and streaming is complimentary in nature — albeit a rarity. However, it should be noted that this article aims to focus on esports as there are far more streamers globally than there are esports athletes.
Can my child make a living playing esports?
While the media is full of grandiose headlines of 16 year olds winning millions of dollars, the reality is that making a living from playing esports is highly dependant on a multitude of factors of which I have numbered:
1. Where are you in the world and what is your government’s stance on Esports?
The access to global platforms (Twitch, YouTube Gaming, Facebook Gaming, Bigo, etc.) to follow tournaments live as they happen makes esports globally accessible to watch. However, to pursue a career in it depends on the support of esports from your country’s government. As esports is — by nature — a capitalist venture of private entities, your government’s view of certain esports titles may be unfavourable. This can unfortunately, be extremely damaging to the growth of esports in your country; however, it is a realistic assessment that must be made.
Generally, most countries view the growth of esports favourably as it encourages foreign investment and growth of local tech and events companies. Certain countries like China impose restrictions on international play, while still allowing competition internally; This still allows an esports career to exist -and even thrive- but is limited by the extent of reach and the maturity of the local esports industry. Other countries may impose restrictions on certain esports titles such as Pakistan’s ban on PUBG. This does not necessarily hinder an esports career, unless the esport of choice is in itself a hindrance. Which leads us to:
2. What is the Esport of choice?
Esports is like sports: there isn’t one type. Sports has its football, basketball and baseball; Esports has its CS:GO, League of Legends and Overwatch. There are many games available in the market that have esports tournaments. However, the games that become true esports titles are those games that have the game developers invest in developing their competitive ecosystem. While extremely popular games like Minecraft have tournaments, its lack of developer focus on esports prevents it from being a sustainable competitive title (aside from the fact it was not designed for that purpose).
On the other hand, there are games like Valorant that are developed specifically to become a major esport; following in the footsteps of games like Overwatch. It is important to note that the esports with the most reach globally are games that are played on a mobile device (iOS and Android) with massive corporations like Tencent pushing to make its PUBG Mobile esports ecosystem a global staple. The esport of choice will determine the health of your local esport industry (if it exists at all) and the accessibility into it.
For example: Fortnite and PUBG Mobile are popular games in the North America and Europe but Freefire dominates most of Latin America and Asia when it comes to competitive battle royale titles.
3. How dedicated are you to Esports?
Provided that the previous factors have been taken into account -your country and game of choice has a healthy esports industry- the chances of making a living playing esports are greatly improved. However, entering a professional esports organization is a challenge in itself.
Most esports organizations have talent scouts planted in the local gaming ecosystem; to get noticed by these individuals, one needs to be of an extremely high standard when compared to the average player. Aside from the chance encounter with a talent scout in a normal game, another possible way to enter an esports organization is to have one’s skill vouched by an existing esports athlete -then tested by the esports organization.
In light of this, only those with the dedication to continuously improve their skill and further expand their network within the game’s community stand a greater chance of joining an esports organization. It is a proven fact that people consistently overestimate themselves and their ability. In the esports world, skill is observable by objective data and is treated as such; in gamer terms; “if you suck, get good”. Esports organizations are looking for the right balance of talent and amiability, driven by a dedicated attitude. Objective self-evaluation and critical thinking are crucial traits of successful esports athletes and should be cultivated as early as possible.
4. Are you prepared to accept the risks?
Taking into account that the previous 3 factors are in favour of a potential esports career, we can finally answer the question posed:
Yes, your child can make a living playing esports.
However, one must be aware of the risks involved. Competing at the highest level requires mental demands that exceed what is considered average. Maintaining a healthy mind and body is critical to reduce risk of long-lasting effects.
Esports also favours youth due to the importance of reaction times — which studies show degrade after the age of 24. Most esports athletes begin their careers at 19 (some even younger) and end at the age of 25 while traditional sports can see athletes still competing at the highest level well into their 40s.
While age is not the only factor in maintaining a spot in the active roster of a esports team, it is reasonable to assume that a career as an esports athlete will not last a decade. However, those that retire from competing actively still are able to make a livelihood in the esports industry- whether being a coach, analyst or manager. It is with that future in mind that it is NOT RECOMMENDED to take your child out of school to pursue an esports career, as basic education is a necessity to thrive after one’s competing career is over in esports.
Should I encourage my child to pursue esports?
This writer’s opinion is that the decision to pursue esports must come from an authentic deep desire and not a passing interest. Parents should take the time to educate themselves (taking into account the factors previously mentioned) and objectively identify your child’s determination apart from his enthusiasm.
It is perfectly fine to be an esports enthusiast, supporting and cheering the team or player of your liking. However, becoming one of them requires passion and dedication- the latter being the one that will be tested rigorously throughout their career as an esports athlete.
Of course, to ask the above of the parents of rebellious teenagers is a tall order. This is the age group when the most miscommunication happens between parent and child, after all. How would you go about recognizing your child’s level of dedication without being a restrictive parent (and risk further distance in relationship)?
Recommendation
This writer’s recommendation is to be supportive of their interest — but observe closely.
Plan out a 6 or 12 month career path (balancing school, gaming, physical exercise and raw skill training) for your child and give encouragement throughout. Provide as much as you are able; get them the required equipment they need, perhaps even engage a coach and — most importantly — measure their improvement of rank and skill in-game throughout the planned period. At the end of the trial period, you would have enough objective data to help you in making a decision.
12 months is plenty - it is feasible that a talented player can get discovered by scouts, drafted into an esports organization and participate in state to national esports tournaments during that period. Inversely, by the end of the trial period your child may independently decide that being an esports athlete may not be the career path to pursue and your nurturing presence will hopefully foster a tighter bond.
How can I be sure?
You can’t.
Ultimately, if one does not try, one may not know how far they can go. You may unknowingly be the parent of a future esports star — with tens of thousands of fans across the globe cheering them on as they compete for a headline worthy prize pool — or not.
In today’s increasingly high-tech world; it is impossible to predict the world of tomorrow. However, the very human aspect of sports- the spirit of competition and all the drama that entails it, are translated perfectly into esports. The global appeal and rising significance of esports indicates that it is here to stay.
What will your role be?
