Organized esports leagues combine video games with the structure of traditional sports
When Asheville residents Cheryl and Mark Chambers’ two young sons began playing the online video game Fortnite with friends, they weren’t sure how to feel. One on hand, Mark was a gamer himself, having grown up playing the popular Xbox first-person shooter game Halo. But the days of plugging in controllers to a single gaming console and playing together on the living room TV were long gone, replaced by a world of Internet matchmaking and anonymous participants. Neither parent knew exactly what barriers they should place on their sons, ages 9 and 11 at the time.
“Maybe they could just play a little and we could keep an eye on things, just to make sure they were only playing online with other kids they knew,” Cheryl recalls of their rules at the time.
While massively popular games like Fortnite—a free-to-play Battle Royale shooting game, in which 100 players fight to be the last one standing on a shrinking map—do allow for certain parental controls and age restrictions, the very design of the game meant it didn’t take long before their boys were playing against relative strangers. This made both parents uneasy.
Around this time, Mark learned of the national youth esports league, XP League, and saw a chance to address his family’s concerns without completely restricting his boys’ video game time. The couple opened a franchise in Asheville and later in Greenville, which now operates out of the Salvation Army Kroc Center.
XP League is best understood as a classic esports league, with local kids meeting up together to practice and compete in their sport. The only difference is that, instead of traditional sports, kids compete in video games like Fortnite, Marvel Rivals, Valorant, Apex Legends, Overwatch 2, Rocket League, Minecraft, and Roblox.
The way Cheryl sees things, it’s the difference between kids playing a pickup game of soccer at the park and kids participating in a formal soccer league. With video games, however, the problem is that the “park” encompasses the entire world, with all participants being faceless and anonymous, and of undetermined age.
Organized Esports leagues for kids
In XP League, by comparison, kids meet up to play against one another (either in-person at the Kroc Center or remotely) to practice under the guidance of trained, vetted coaches. At regular intervals, the team plays online against more than 50 other XP League teams around the country. This gives local kids a chance to play their favorite games while ensuring their opponents are only other XP League kids.
Each season, teams meet at Full Sail University’s Fortress Esports Arena in Orlando, the largest esports arena in the country, for a three-day live esports tournament to select the best players and teams in the country. XP League also offers more casual clubs for less overtly competitive games.
For Mark and Cheryl, the goal is not necessarily to develop a child’s Fortnite abilities. In much the same way that a soccer league is not solely meant to cultivate the best footwork, it’s a way to teach kids broader life skills.
“It’s a chance to foster kids’ relationships and help them come out of their shell, in many ways,” she said. “Maybe in normal settings, like being the one to speak out in class or just randomly chatting, it’s not your child’s thing. But when they get to learn to communicate within the framework of their favorite game, it helps to warm them up to that idea of talking through things, being kind and supportive of their teammates, and working together toward a common goal.”
More Esports Leagues in the Upstate
The city of Greenville runs youth esports events and an Esports Lab with Alienware gaming stations where kids (11–17) can play organized matches and participate in tournaments on games like Fortnite in open-play sessions at local community centers.
Juanita Butler Community Center, 2 Burns St., Greenville, $5 per person
Arcades and social gaming spaces are also great for casual group play and connecting with the local gaming scene. Here are a few to try.
Frankie’s of Greenville
45 Park Woodruff Dr., frankies.com
Main Event Greenville
225 Entertainment Blvd., Greenville, mainevent.com
Social Latitude – Playground and Pub
1812 Woodruff Rd., Greenville, sociallatitude.com
WantecVR
928 S Main St., Greenville, wantecvr.com
