Skip to main content

Esports in Trinidad and Tobago

What is esports? Put simply esports is competitive video gaming. Usually there are huge sums of monies involved in the big tournaments. There are even teams and leagues much like football and other big sports. Streaming platforms like Twitch bring the action to huge audiences.

Let me point to some of the things that are happening in Trinidad and the region in the esports space. Jamaica seems to be taking the lead and has been long standing in this space and there is the Jamaica eSports Initiative. According to their website they set out to engage youth by developing competitive video game skills, encouraging fair play, building team spirit and establishing Jamaica as a recognized member of the global esports community. Bahamas and Guadaloupe are also making moves. A memorandum of understanding had been signed between 12 Caribbean and Latin American Esports Federations to form the Caribbean Esports Federations Alliance in 2020. I have not found more than this MOU signing. Sadly Trinidad and Tobago was not listed at that time. I have been told that Trinidad is now a member. I have found the Trinidad and Tobago Esports Federation on facebook and I sent them some questions.

FIFA and the Olympics are getting into esports. This is an opportunity for TTFA and TTOC to make sure that Trinidad and Tobago is not left behind. Governmental and private sector support needed to push esports and develop the space. In 2019 Newsday wrote an article titled "E-sports is growing in TT, and it's big business". In that article it was written that "He said in order for the local sector to grow, "there must be a mix of innovation by entrepreneurs, corporate strategy by brands, and the necessary quality of players."

I would say that locals can make a career out of esports. We are challenged by fields that are saturated and persons not being able to get jobs in those fields. Esports can also be a foreign exchange earner. It can also be an opportunity to advertise the country. Like everything there would be postives and negatives of esports. While gaming may be seen as contributing to obesity many game developers are developing games where you have to move and be physically active. Esports teaches team work, patience and socialising. Gamers have to watch out for gaming, sleep and mood disorders.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Technology in Trinbago

It is 205am and I have decided to write. I was doing some research and trying to update myself on what is happening in the tech space in Trinidad and Tobago. Nothing stood out in particular. I went looking at what other Caribbean countries were doing that we could adopt. I think there are opportunities in that. Then I decided to focus my energy on coming up with a list of things I think could be done with tech in Trinbago. 1. Feeding a startup culture. Ease of doing business. Make it easy to start and run a business. Support for businesses that earn foreign exchange. 2. Launch the work from home policy. 3. Have a similar policy for online schooling and home schooling. 4. Tech literacy focusing on cybersecurity and keeping safe online. 5. What would it take to get Paypal and CashApp supported here? 6. Support and encouragement for tech bloggers and tech youtubers. 7. More hackatons and a yearly developer survey. 8. Facilitating contact and communication between local techies and big tec...

A simple prayer

It is 200pm and I have started to write again. I abandoned my last blog post. I did not know what to write. I still do not know what to write about but I am still going to write anyway. I was thinking. What if there was a clock where a day was 100 hours and an hour was 100 minutes, what would be the current time in Trinidad according to that clock? 58.82 would be the time according to my friend — 5+8+8+2 = 23. 58.33 would have been the time I started — 5+8+3+3 = 19. If you are familiar with my writing you know that 19 and 23 comes from my book Love Letters. Nice but what to write about? I was thinking about a simple prayer. What would be a simple prayer? What would be the simplest prayer? My friend says that "thank you" is a simple prayer that carries so much weight. What about a prayer that is an acronym of the word simple? That forms a grammatically correct sentence. [insert s word] in my prayer like [insert e word]. Share, save, soul ... ease, every, eternal are some words...

Giving

It is 237pm and I have decided to write. I drank a strong cup of coffee. It is hot outside but cool inside in the AC. I have no topic but I feel like writing. I love giving charity. Who knows it, feels it. The world would be a much better place if we all shared with one another. If we helped one another. If we only take as much as we need and leave the rest for others. If we prioritised needs over wants. We are going to leave it all behind when we die. We cannot carry anything into the grave except our deeds. One of the easiest ways to give money to charities is through SMS codes. The telecoms should have a system in place where charitable causes can sign up for an SMS code to accept donations. Long ago I remember seeing the donation tins at the supermarket. We should have more of those. I think more people would give more if they were presented with more opportunities to give. The nlcb booths could be outlets for making donations. Linx machines could be points for making donations. AT...