"Simply put, esports are video games that are played in a highly organized competitive environment. These games can range from popular, team-oriented multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs), to single player first person shooters, to survival battle royales, to virtual reconstructions of physical sports", ("What are Esports" ). The widespread adoption of competitive gaming has given rise to a whole ecosystem ranging from grade school up to competitive organizations that compete globally and bring in millions of dollars per year. There are now opportunities for kids in elementary school to rise through the ranks, competing in organized esports leagues, to earn significant scholarships to play in college and potentially professionally.

Esports create a unique environment that requires players to utilize a number of skills like critical thinking, communication, teamwork, and others. Playing video games on competitive teams allows players to connect with their peers on levels that they might otherwise be unable to do because they have common ground that they can each relate to and build upon. The experience creates environments where groups need to strategize, think critically about opponents, work together and communicate to ultimately win their matches, skills that are valuable in most any walk of life. Uptime not only provides a custom and unique curriculum for gaming, included in that process is lessons and teaching materials that help our players reach new levels as people surrounding their physical health, nutrition, mental health and social skills that they can utilize in their daily lives.

There are now over 250 colleges that give out esports scholarships totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. Esports is now widely adopted at all levels of colleges and universities and can help students earn their degrees. The collegiate level of esports is a competitive one and operates similar to traditional sports as coaches scout and recruit players for many different game titles across the country. Uptime has players from elementary through high school and our goal is to help our gamers achieve the highest levels of success that they aspire to in the world of esports. For our players that are in high school and seriously considering college, we work with them to elevate their skills so that they can take that next step to college. Uptime also provides tangible opportunities to meet these coaches, hosting recruiting showcases where players meet coaches, while also connecting players through existing college coach relationships built through our history in the industry.

The first thought might be that playing competitive esports only opens career opportunities in professional gaming or at video game companies. While those are certainly career options, they are far from the only options as being a gamer helps you in many ways that we mentioned before. The familiarity with computers allows gamers to pursue careers in information technology (IT), software engineering and computer design. Most gamers also build their following using streaming which translates directly to broadcast careers ranging from television to hosting company related events and interviews to producing video content for company websites and social media channels. The experience working through scheduling, classes, homework, practices and matches along with managing relationships with players, coaches and supervisors also opens doors in fields like communications, management, administration and business.