Esports

Esports Camps Founder Justin Hoeveler on Developing the Youth Esports Ecosystem


Esports Camps debuted in June of 2018, offering an educational program for youth to improve their skills both in and out of games. Almost a year later, The Esports Observer sat down with Esports Camps founder Justin Hoeveler to talk about the state of the youth esports market and his company’s role in its development.

“Camps are in my blood,” said Hoeveler, noting that his father founded US Sports Camps in 1975. “My parents had an awesome outlet to send me away for the summer to work on my tennis and basketball skills. I learned a lot and I felt that it was really impactful as far as getting outside of your comfort zone and learning about yourself, how you interact with others, how you make new friends, etc.”

Hoeveler continued to work in the sports industry in a number of roles, from talent agent to managing US Sports Camps’ Canadian business.

“It’s really important to me that I don’t come in and say, ‘hey we’re going to do this just like traditional sports.’”

“The idea for esports just kind of rose out of my fandom of the industry,” said Hoeveler. “There are obvious crossover potential and similarities between how esports is starting to form around competitive leagues and games, and the aspirations of players seeing opportunities to play at the collegiate and professional level.”

Hoeveler described a “void in the developmental infrastructure” that he thought Esports Camps could help fill. While his background in traditional sports provided a holistic view of infrastructure and opportunity, Hoeveler didn’t want to force Esports Camps into a box.

“It’s really important to me that I don’t come in and say, ‘hey we’re going to do this just like traditional sports.’ This thing has been intentionally born outside of the traditional sports culture,” he explained. “What I see are some obvious ways to create experiences—build a character and some skills—but for most esports organizations to be successful it’s got to be kind of a homegrown solution to the industry.”

 

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Credit: Esports Camps

 

Allowing esports to “be itself” extends to the coaches, as well, Hoeveler said, noting that coaches are provided with administrative infrastructure and marketing support.

“We’re always really cognizant of allowing a coach to impart his own philosophy about best practices when it comes to individual skill development. The skill development curriculum will continue to evolve just like traditional sports curriculum does.”

The inaugural camp included League of Legends Database-Link-e1521645463907 only, but has since expanded to other games including Overwatch Database-Link-e1521645463907 and Fortnite Database-Link-e1521645463907. In April, Esports Camps partnered with Riot Games Database-Link-e1521645463907 to host a high school “Girls in Gaming” event.

“We [also] want to educate parents on the opportunities on the college landscape…”

As with any youth esports initiative, convincing parents to allow their children to participate can be a challenge. Esports Camps address this reticence with assurances about improving skills without interfering with sleep or school work. In fact, an hour of the first day of camp is dedicated to explaining the esports landscape, opportunities, and developing healthy gaming habits.

“You don’t have to spend your entire night into the early hours of the morning playing a game to improve,” Hoeveler said. “It’s [about] playing the right way and developing more regimented training principles to improve that doesn’t require you to lose sleep before class the next day if you’re a high school student.

“We [also] want to educate parents on the opportunities on the college landscape,” he continued, “there are over 100 colleges offering financial aid to skilled gamers which I think a lot of parents don’t know about. When I tell people that, they’re just blown away.”

 

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Credit: Esports Camps

In addition to game-specific skills, the Esports Camps curriculum teaches physical and mental fitness, as well as teamwork.

“You don’t have to spend your entire night into the early hours of the morning playing a game to improve.” 

“As someone who played many different sports growing up, I think there’s no greater value in childhood development than being on a team and understanding what that means—to sacrifice and commit to a common goal bigger than yourself. All the intrinsic value of teamwork is really valuable but also kind of new to [the esports] space. That’s central to our message to both potential campers and parents.”

 


This interview was conducted by Trent Murray.





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