This morning I read that the Vancouver Canucks players have banned playing video games on road, in particular Fortnite, as they feel they need to develop team chemistry, something that head coach Travis Green stated they did so on their own accord, he himself is not banning video games being played.
In the summer prior the NHL draft, I recall reading another article how many teams are asking prospects in their preliminary interviews leading up to the draft if they played video games due to the addictive nature and could lead to sleep deprivation as they may be playing for hours at a time.
This shows that there truly is a youth movement, not just with the Vancouver Canucks who finally admitted they are going thru a rebuild and veterans were fighting for spots as Gagner and Archibald found out when put on waivers to make room for Goldobin and Leipsic.
I was not able to watch the first game last night but did catch some highlights on my way back from doing presentations for Nanaimo Minor Hockey that the Canucks overcame their offensive challenges they faced all of last year and many feared would continue into this year but won their first game 5-2 against their Alberta Rivals, Calgary Flames (albeit the 5th goal was an empty net). I know only one win, but a win all the same so perhaps the focus on developing team chemistry will lead to improvement in the standings this coming season, only the future will tell.
Two of the players that contributed to points in the first game were the young guns, Elias Petterson (19), the most highly touted draft pick of the Canucks since Pavel Bure, and the player they have paired him up with another first round pick in 2014 (by the Sharks) Nikolay Goldobin (soon to be 23) who both scored goals in the game. When I saw them paired on same line in exhibition play I suspected they would stick together on same line in regular season, they play very well together so perhaps this will be Nikolay’s breakout year.
When several of the players were asked in the article how they felt about video games being banned while they were on the road, they all stated it was no big deal, even Elias who admitted he did play video games when not involved in hockey activities. It would permit them to develop team chemistry by having team dinners and talking about other things other than hockey vs. ordering room service and playing the likes of Fortnite or other video games for hours on end.
The sad reality is it reinforces on of the key messages that I have been sharing in presentations that Esports and video gaming IS the future and many organizations are having to adapt and implement policies to ensure that their players don’t over indulge like the Canucks have done.
Below is an image that I have added to one of my slides for presentations that shows the future;
This particular picture was from an esports event in Japan, the venue seated approximately 25,000 people and it sold out in MINUTES.
E-Sports are changing the landscape of sport and these are just some of the examples why;
Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has an esports team who all live in the same house in the outskirts of Dallas and one of their coaches is one of our good friends, James Leath, who shared insight on how fast esports has grown when we talked to him in our summer summit.
The COO of Maple Leaf Entertainment, Michael Friisdahl, was interviewed earlier this year and shared insight that he felt that egamers were athletes, although they sat in chairs, used their thumbs primarily for physical exercise, in order to be successful in any of the games they played they had to execute high level decisions faster than their competitors, similar to the most elite players in any sport. They also had a HUGE fan base and have to stay in shape to endure marathon matches of game play.
Hey, if darts and poker are considered “sports” and dominate TSN’s coverage in the off seasons in the summer, I suspect Esports will be next to fill that space.
One of the things about anyone that reaches the top of their game, whether it be Wayne Gretzky, Pele, Muhammed Ali or others is they are able to see the game in slow motion permitting them to do things that many struggle with as they can not handle the speed of the game.
This is the biggest challenge that all young prospects face when they enter in the NHL, especially those like Elias Petterson who played against adults but on Olympic size ice surfaces
allowing for more time and space than North American Sized Rinks.
The IOC and Paris Olympic Committees are considering testing esports in the upcoming summer games … yes, that’s right, esports (AKA video gamers) could potentially qualify to win and OLYMPIC MEDAL (OMG).
Even as I type those words, or say them in a presentation, I am dumbstruck.
I grew up in the days of Atari, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, playing on 13” tube TVs so after about 30 minutes of play I pretty much had my fill until I went back outside to play
or off to various fields, courts, rinks for the various organized sports we played.
For me, it was a form of relaxation, just like it is for the next gen Canucks, which many of the current players who either talk about when they are interviewed pre drafts or the very
same Canucks like Brock Boeser who stated he and a few of his current Canuck Teammates do play Fortnite but no more than an hour at a time as a form of relaxation, much like he did when playing at University.
To give you an idea how fast esports has grown, projections for 2018 is it will exceed $1 Billion in gate revenue for events like the one pictured above, events are selling out in minutes, faster than any of the top music or traditional live sports events.
Think about that … egamers have more fans than the TOP artists in music, the top teams or individual athletes in the WORLD.
I never thought that would be
possible.
ESports has not been the only form of video games that has gone viral in recent years, think back two years ago when Pokemon Go took the world by storm, not only were kids playing, but adults, making it the most downloadable game of all time, exceeding over $2 Billion in sales to date. It is the “happy medium” for parents telling their kids to go out and play, yet for kids to still be looking at their screens and both adults and kids get their infamous Simon Sinek Dopamine fix from technology when doing so
The esports phenomena has not only tweaked the interest of Jerry Jones, but the NBA who are launching the 2K esports league next season.
Other owners, investors, and even the top 5 professional leagues themselves are looking at how esports can increase their revenues, I suspect that MLB to be the next to jump on the bandwagon due to decreasing revenues as a result of declining attendance.
The very fact that esports has evolved to the level it has in just a few years time is a mere reflection how BIG video games have evolved and why they contribute to the 7.5 hours a day that kids are spending in front of their screens.
Have you every asked why kids play video games to the extent they do?
Partly because they are so lifelike now than our past generation, but mainly because the kids (even if they are millionaire pro athletes) have full ownership of the experience.
There are no adults standing over them, or in youth sports in the stands or on the sidelines, telling them what to do, how to do it or criticizing them when they make mistakes. If they don’t like the rules of the game, like did when played pickup or board games, would change them to speed up, slow down or add more offense/defense (i.e. no offside rule))
Video games, like youth sports used to be, are safe to fail which is the key learning environment to develop creative players
And if you die in the latest craze Fortnite, League of Legends or going back to Halo when it set all the records for a video game release in 2010, all kids do is press the reset button and start over.
Unfortunately, in youth sports today there are “some coaches or parents” (the vocal minority) leading to the attrition rates where kids put up the white flag to go to screens in droves, tablets, smart phones, computer dual screens which has now lead to gaming chairs, keyboards, mice and a proliferation of other products.
For all parents out there, I suggest you follow the lead of the Vancouver Canucks players who self enforced themselves and have policies to not only restrict your kids video game time, but overall screen time so falls way below the current average of 7.5 hours a day.
One of the deals I had with both my kids (who have now aged out of youth sports but are still involved in various adult rec sports) was for every hour of screen time, they had to have an hour away from the various screens available to them today.
We also have a hard rule no electronics at the dinner table,
none in our bed rooms (the excepting being a bedside lamp so could read for one
hour to offset one hour of screen time)
Examples:
If you play Video Games for one Hour = Ride your bike one hour
If you watch Youtube for one hour = Go for a walk, run, to a field and throw ball, ultimate frisbee
If you watch Netlix for one hour ONLY (ONE EPISODE at a time no binging permitted) = Read a book, art, listen to music (sound mind and sound body)
If you do homework on your laptop or desktop for one hour = Go to the pool for swim, gym to play hoops, volleyball, badminton
As the cliché goes, everything is ok in moderation, but what has lead to the health issues of today’s generation is they are spending too much time in front of screens daily and not taking a break to for other physical and mental activities to promote sound mind and sound body.
Also, recognize the motivation WHY they play video games as long as they do and ensure that you support them to have the same ownership of their youth sports experience and in lieu of criticism in the car, on the sidelines ..
JUST LOVE WATCHING YOUR KIDS PLAY
Perhaps if we all do so, youth sports will become just that again in lieu of adults competing with other adults thru their kids.
