Why Are Eports Players So Young?
At the age of 17, Faker of SK Telecom T1 won the Season 3 League of Legends World Championship, the first of three he would eventually win to cement his status as one of the best players in the world. At the age of 17 and 18, Armada and Mango, respectively, would face off in the first-ever GENESIS grand finals, birthing a rivalry that would last a decade and establish them as part of the pantheon of Super Smash Bros. Melee gods. At the age of 15, Vaxei broke the 1,000pp barrier on osu!, a feat that took the community over a decade to accomplish. Add in the myriad of young Fortnite pros, League of Legends Academy players, and undiscovered talent waiting to be found on Twitch — young competitors’ dominance over the entirety of esports is crystal clear.
In traditional sports, like football and basketball, a player over the age of 30 is considered a grizzled veteran — in many esports, this age rests perhaps around 24. The average age of competitors across the board is just under 25, with truly exceptional players often coming straight out of high school. It should be common sense that more experienced players with more wisdom and…
