When we think hakinakina (sports), we are hardwired to think of the traditional types of games – rugby, netball, league, soccer etc – but, there is one sport that is growing at a rapid pace.

Esports, according to SportNZ, is the “world’s fastest-growing sports due to it’s growing legitimacy, increasingly wide array of games, streaming videos, convergence of various established industries and it continues to engage increasing numbers of rangatahi in Aotearoa”. 

In 2021, more than 3.7million New Zealanders played video games* and that number will be even higher this year – while Esports brings exciting opportunities for young people and sport, there are concerns about the potential negative impacts of gaming. Concerns arise around physical inactivity, and unhealthy commodities (e.g. fast food, alcohol) targeting esports and potentially exploiting a young impressionable audience through marketing and sponsorship.
 
Healthy Families Ōtautahi initiated conversations with Danny McNeil from Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi, on how to leverage opportunities and positively influence the Esports space to mitigate the negative impacts and exposure to gambling-related harm. In addition to this, there was also discussions on how to build Sport Canterbury and Healthy Families Ōtautahi kaimahi understanding of Esports, and the needs of rangatahi.

Initially, Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi’s foray into Esports was specifically based around equitable access to esports and gaming (price point being a barrier) and wanting to bridge this divide. What they weren’t expecting - and have been pleasantly surprised by - is how much interest there is in the broader community, with traditional sports teams participating weekly to add to the overall hauora of their teams. Team-based games provide a unique and innovative approach to teamwork without the risk of physical injury - add to that interest from organisations actively working with the neurodiverse community, rangatahi welfare kaimahi and collaboration with academics in early research and they knew that we were on to something interesting; something that has the potential to provide social inclusion if done well.

Healthy Families Ōtautahi embarked on a journey to investigate what THEIR role could be in this powerful space, working with others in the Esports community to co-design a prototype tournament for staff/kaimahi to experience Esports, and start to build relationships with the Esports community. The Tournament consisted of Sport Canterbury and Healthy Families Ōtautahi staff being coached and mentored by rangatahi from school teams and playing a five-person collaborative game. 

Feedback from the event was that most people enjoyed the day and having rangatahi coach and mentor the staff was seen as a great way to support a young person’s development.

“The young person, Matthew, who was coaching me was outstanding without even knowing he was applying everything a coach should -  providing feedback in bite sizes pieces, allowing me to explore my ability and providing me with guidance and support along the way. Bringing the rangatahi in to lead this was awesome and a great way to support their development.” – Esports prototype tournament attendee.

McNeil echoed the attendee’s thoughts – “It was amazing to see rangatahi, some of who have not been involved in traditional sports, take centre stage, be experts and manaaki a group of, in some cases reluctant and relatively new to esports Sport Canterbury kaimahi through to a full-fledged tournament. It really was a lot of fun as well as an eye-opener. I was particularly impressed at how well the ākonga imparted their knowledge in such a positive, gentle way, there were lots of laughs”.

Esports is an emerging sport that engages rangatahi that may not engage in traditional sports, providing them with some of the skills they would get from being involved with traditional sports – teamwork, dealing with winning and losing, perseverance, dedication, practicing a skill to improve it etc – and we could support it by having a positive influence to help make an impact on vulnerable, impressionable rangatahi and their habits.

However, there was also feedback that showed concern about Esports and it leading to more inactivity, the sometimes-violent nature of some of the games being played, and addiction tendencies, which was also taken into consideration. 

Overall, this tournament has built knowledge of Esports and has provided Healthy Families Ōtautahi a great starting point to intervene in this system to realise positive outcomes and prevent negative outcomes, like the ones mentioned above.  

* Gameshub.com - New Zealand plays video games at a higher rate than Australians