Kids

E-Sports Now Part of the UAAP Line-Up!

by Kevyn Gohu
August 19, 2024

The UAAP is expanding its cover, adding e-sports to the roster

Basketball was the game that the UAAP season was famous for, filling stadiums to the brim with cheering families. Their kids are either accompanying them on the bleachers or are the athletes themselves. It’s become a tradition for many families to keep themselves updated with the developments of collegiate-level sports. So it’s most likely a shocking surprise as the UAAP adds a new division: the e-sports division!

Currently, games that are included in the e-sports division include NBA 2K, Valorant, and Mobile Legends.

What E-Sports is

The first question we’re probably all asking is, “What in the world is E-Sports? Is it one of those online Poker games or something?”

E-Sports, short for “electronic sports,” is when a particular video game becomes a possible way to hold a tournament. Gamers would compete against one another, pitting their knowledge of the game, reaction time, and thinking speed. In a lot of cases, it’s a game of stamina — the mental energy to process everything happening on that screen while trying to predict the other side can be quite draining.

That’s not including the characters in the game, which have another set of mechanics to learn.

So for the many of us who believed that video games wouldn’t be much, guess we were proven wrong.

Giving our kids other avenues to achieve

When our kids go to college, there are two ways to achieve a scholarship: either be a traditional athlete or be one of those genius and highly intellectual kids. Plus, we know that student-athletes who compete in UAAP tournaments are held in high regard.

But with sports slowly opening up to different disciplines, it also means that our kids will now have more avenues to achieve. Places are recognizing different forms of intelligence and while it will take us time to understand how video games can become competitive, it at least helps our kids find friends. After all, some video games have a big community that allows gamers to bond with one another.