Hello my name is Bryan Marquez and I am the President of Community Culture Change, Inc(C3), a 501©3 non profit that currently operates a youth Tutoring Center. We have been operating for a year and currently tutor about 30+ students. As we are looking to grow and start new projects, one project that has come to light and I think deserves some conversation is Gaming and the youth that plays games.
As a tutoring center we see kids and what they are involved with on a regular basis, and we see that a vast majority of youth is involved in some type of gaming activity to some extent. As a person that has grown up gaming, I know that there is value to gaming other than pure entertainment, although that is the main reason why most kids play video games. The benefits of gaming are obviously there and there are plenty of studies done that point out the direct benefits of gaming, so that isn’t something that really needs to be brought up in great detail. My life itself is a testament to what you can do with the skills that you pick up from gaming, but we can go into that story another time if you see me at a tournament or event.
So back to the point at hand, Gaming and Youth. We are currently in the works of developing a program, a Youth Gaming League and we would like to get the Gaming Community’s feedback on the topic. The ultimate goal of the program is set up an infrastructure that will not only allow for youth to be mentored in sportsmanship, team building, responsibility, personal image(self esteem), and being an active participant in a larger community but it will also lay the framework to develop a collegiate program that will give youth the opportunity to attend college through scholarships provided by C3 to play on college e-sports teams.
Why would you want to do that?
- We believe that higher education is a necessity in a world that is faced with constantly changing issues that we have not had to deal with previously, so the more youth we can get into college the better off we all will be.
- We see a very unique opportunity that gaming provides that traditional sports programs cannot.
In no way is this a knock on traditional sports programs, there is plenty of value in them and they are great ways to develop youth into great men and women of society. I know because I played baseball all the way up to college and was part of that system and know the benefits of it and the way it works very well. In being part of that system, I was also able to see one of its biggest flaws, and that is that it is not very inclusive. One of the key factors that plays into how far you are able to go with a sports program is your physical ability to keep up with the demands of the game. The higher the level you reach, the more emphasis there is on your physical stature and not so much on talent, because at that point in the game, the talent has already been developed. The factors that now come into play are you tall enough, strong enough, had any previous injuries, and are you built like an athlete to be able to compete with the best of the best. This is something that no one has control over and is just a limitation of something that is physically demanding.
Gaming on the other hand does not play into someone’s physical strengths. In the world of competitive gaming and gaming in general you will see people of all shapes and forms, coming from all different parts of the social and economic spectrum. You don’t need a big piece of land to get some games in, you just need some electricity, internet, and some creativity. It does not matter if your are 6’4 like me or 5’2, video games level the playing ground for everyone and all that is left is to develop a better strategy than the next person in order to compete.
Of course, there is more at play and as the program develops it will flesh itself out, but we believe that gaming will be able to be used as a tool for the youth to become passionate about learning and become focused on their education. They will also be able to gain all the experiences that playing something competitively present. So we are asking for your comments, questions, concerns, and support for this program. Our hope is to start a quality conversation on the topic.
**TL:DR - Would you support a Youth Gaming Program? Why or why not?
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Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this post and comment!