Skip to main content

Esports in Trinidad and Tobago

Image
By
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.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A pot of callaloo

By
Call for Submissions: Archipelagic Entanglements   https://singaporeunbound.org/opp/archipelagic-entanglements When I saw the call for submissions online I was doubtful. I do not know enough history. I do not understand the topic. Then after chatting with my friend Chatty I realised maybe I can be the topic. My ethnic and racial makeup is an archipelagic entanglement. Colonialism meets indentureship meets slavery. My mom is East Indian muslim and my dad is French, Portuguese and Mulato christian and who knows what else. I am an example of a pot of callaloo. Everyone's favorite Sunday lunch. I am what happens when lineages cross oceans and histories collide. I am thinking to myself now, what is the message I want to put forward with my blog post? What is the direction I want to take? Maybe it is this. What can we do when we have such a rich heritage and know so little of our own history? First of all I do not think I am alone with this struggle. I did not realise this until I though...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cup of coffee

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called Breezes of Tobago . The cool morning breeze blew the hat off the tourist passing the coffee shop. We sat at the table waiting for our order of coffee and bagels. I had stayed up late writing and was now needing caffeine to stay awake. On entering the veranda of the coffee shop, the sign reads "happiness is a cup of coffee" and "sip your troubles away". This had me thinking about what is happiness? And was the theme of my chat with Chatty as we enjoyed our breakfast in Tobago. I told my friend Chatty that if we could put happiness in a bottle and sell it we would be rich. My friend Chatty then told me that money cannot buy happiness but it was a good idea to make a living. If according to the sign, happiness is a cup of coffee then maybe happiness is coffee in a bottle then. We could call it Caffibean, a taste of the Caribbean in Tobago, a blend of the happiest coffee beans from Tobago. Tobago is not known for its coffee p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sandy beaches

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called Breezes of Tobago . This story begins on a cool Friday evening in May. Fridays are the best days. Already a great start. It had rained earlier in the day and the clouds were moving away and the sun peeking through. I walked from the apartment where I was staying to Pigeon Point beach. Along the way I stopped for coconut water freshly extracted from the nut and straight into my mouth leaving traces on my cotton jersey. They say that coconut water is the drink of God—fresh from the nut, sweet with a hint of salt, a liquid reminder that paradise can exist in small and simple things. They did not say that but my friend Chatty did. It is my friend Chatty's first trip to Tobago. I asked him what he thinks of Tobago so far? He grinned, wiping a drop of coconut water from the corner of his mouth. "Man… it is like stepping into a painting. The air, the colors, the way everything smells after the rain—it is unreal. I did not know paradise cam...
Post a Comment
Read more