“They are winners!”: Esports create new opportunities for youth

“Playing a lot of video games as a youth…that was my outlet to stay out of trouble,” said Laliberte, an eSports coach with Mosquito Grizzly Bear’s Head Lean Man First Nation.

He recently helped coach four youth at the Indigenous Esports Games in Yorkton.

The youth qualified for the tournament after winning their age divisions at a community event that brought together roughly 200 gamers. The players then spent six months practicing and preparing for the competition.

“They were ready for this event… we went over there, and we took third place,” Laliberte said.

(Image Credit: Mosquito Grizzly Bear’s Head Lean Man First Nation/ Facebook)

The tournament gave the youth a chance to compete in a professional-style setting, with large screens displaying the gameplay while fans watched and cheered from the crowd.

Preparing for the tournament meant practicing after school, often for an hour at a time, while Laliberte worked with the players.

“While they were playing or competing, I was behind them, kind of giving them coaching, telling them what to do, what to look out for, and if they were making mistakes.”

(Image Credit: Clement Laliberte/ submitted)

He said the experience was about more than simply winning games.

“It’s just a lot of communication and teamwork, team building and trusting each other and trusting each other’s communication skills,” he said.

Laliberte said eSports has continued to grow in recent years, giving youth opportunities to compete while also developing skills with technology. He said gaming can also open doors to activities such as video production and streaming.

(Image Credit: Mosquito Grizzly Bear’s Head Lean Man First Nation/ Facebook)

“They’re really gifted at these machines nowadays and because there’s a lot of life skills if you utilize gaming and technology the right way it could be very beneficial to the youth, but it could be very bad in a way too,” he said. “It’s up to us to kind of give them the right way to utilize it.”

Laliberte hopes to see more youth and communities in the Battlefords region get involved in eSports and take advantage of the opportunities it can provide.

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Alyssa.rudolph@pattisonmedia.com

by Alyssa Rudolph

“They are winners!”: Esports create new opportunities for youth

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