High Schoolers To Showcase Skills At The Esports Combine
If you follow Football closely, you know that the NFL Combine is one of the most important events of the year. College players from all over the country come together to showcase their skills, looking to increase their draft stock. Players perform rigorous physical tests hoping to impress various NFL scouts & coaches. Its a place where small school players can get on the radar. It’s also a chance for surefire top picks to devalue themselves. Either way, it’s a vital step to becoming a pro football player. Esports has no such event…until now. GYO Score and Super League Gaming are teaming up to bring you the Esports Combine on October 16th. And while this event is focused on high school players looking for colleges, there’s no reason why it can’t get as big as the NFL’s event.
Learning The Who’s Who
Part of why the Esports Combine is even a thing is to help guide players to their goal. With the sheer number of esports and players, it’s nearly impossible to track everyone. Other sports have wide-reaching information networks and decades of infrastructure that can answer the question “Who is the best right now?”. As esports continues to grow in America, there’s a dire need to help schools, teams, and fans follow potential talent. Combines assist in making sense of all that data. At the Esports Combine, high schools students will get a chance to show off their skills for recruiters. According to a press release, the featured games at the event are as follows:
- League of Legends
- Fortnite
- Rocket League
- Valorant
- Smite
- Smash Bros
- R6 Siege, OW
- Madden 21
- Hearthstone
- FIFA 21
- CSGO
- NBA2K21
- Modern Warfare
- Apex Legends
So if you or the high schooler in your life is showing talent for any of these games perhaps they should give it a shot. General entry to Combine is free. For no-cost, players get access to panels and workshops, a scouting profile from GYO, and a scouting directory. However, for those willing to invest about $130 in their potential can get in-depth reports on their play, direct lines to college recruiters, and consultation calls. Needless to say, the value that a student could take out of the event is immense.
The Future of America Esports?
One of the biggest discussion points for esports right now is the “path to pro”. In traditional sports, there’s a clear route to take to becoming a professional athlete. If you play baseball, you go from tee-ball to little league, to high school, college, and then the farm system or right into a roster. There’s very little to understand about how you achieve your goal. For Esports, that path is not clearly defined. Because of how young most esports pros are, some choose to bypass college entirely. Universities across the US, can’t let that happen.
If done well, the Esports Combine can become the yearly norm for esports. As with traditional sports, there are some kids who will never become pro. But even if college is their peak, they’ve used their gaming skills to pay for their education. But because of esports’ age range, even pro teams could use this event as a scouting opportunity. Either way, the players win. For the cost of a weekend of time, you’ll get a deep analysis of just how good you are. And even if that’s enough, the draw of potential scholarship money doesn’t hurt. t
The Esports Combine runs from October 16th-18th. To register head over to combine.gg
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