CLARKSVILLE — Indiana’s first esports league sponsored by a municipality will start soon in Clarksville.
The goal is to provide youth with an interest in video games with a competitive, structured and safe way to play with their peers.
“We have a partnership with GGLeagues. They take the format of a traditional sports league and structure it in the same format for video games,” said Assistant Clarksville Parks Superintendent Nathan Kane.
Kane said esports have taken off in the past decade or so and that he presented the idea to the town about five years ago. Since then, he’s been working to roll it out.
“We’ve seen some interest in the community and are trying to spread the word,” he said. “We want to up the registration. There’s definitely some excitement for it.”
The league will be offered in two age groups, for kids ages 8 to 12 and for teenagers 13 to 18. A game pass costs $40 per child and gives access to all games being offered. Families will need to have the ability set up at home to play the games online.
Games offered include Madden, Rocket League, Super Smash Brothers and Fortnite. Fortnite will only be offered for the teens.
“They (play) from the comfort of their own home, a lot of kids are already playing from home,” Kane said. “It’s not always the safest environment and giving them a moderated chat function through GGLeagues makes sure everything that’s going on is safe.”
According the National CyberSecurity Alliance, online games give cyber criminals the ability to take advantage of kids online through things like chat, file and camera sharing.
At least one college in Indiana is offering esports scholarships.
A report from the Associated Press last month said Ball State University is partnering with David Letterman’s IndyCar team to offer two $5,000 scholarships to two people on the school’s esports team.
Letterman graduated from Ball State and the school started offering the league last year. The school is a founding member of the Esports Collegiate Conference.
Kane said that colleges nationwide are starting to offer esports scholarships.
In Clarksville, registration is open and ends early next month.
“The season will start mid-April and it’s an eight-week regular season, with a playoff format after that eight weeks,” Kane said.
To register, go to ClarksvilleParks.com and look for the sports and leagues category.
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