iS esports for all?

THE Commonwealth Games ethos is about being the friendly and inclusive Games, with a particular focus on women and people with a disability.

And esports has its challenges when it comes to being a truly welcoming environment for women.

“There is that perception that women aren’t as good, and for me I believe it’s since we don’t have that many women in the area,” Sydney’s Kanyarat “Fern” Bupphaves said.

“We don’t have as much exposure to show how good and how talented women can be. The guys have been playing for years on end, whereas the girls haven’t had as much support to grow in this area.”

The topic was tackled at a forum hosted by the Global Esports Federation as part of the exhibition event at the Commonwealth Games.

It looked at whether having open and women’s categories at tournaments was the answer.

Sophie Spink, from global sports management company Portas Consulting, said parallels could be drawn with Formula 1, which is open to all drivers, but there has never been a female F1 driver.

“And in the last few years they’ve released the (all-female) W series and it was highly controversial when it first came out because they said people can compete in F1, they don’t need this platform,” she said.

“But the athletes themselves (were) calling for this as an opportunity for them to demonstrate their skills.

“And yes, probably the end goal is for full integration, but those milestones in between are really important. And to give those grassroots drivers the visibility, the role models are so important.”

Head of Global Esports Academy Tom Dore also told the forum that esports provided unique opportunities for people of all genders, ages and abilities. “We have the case studies of the inclusion of neurodiverse individuals, young people in wheelchairs playing alongside their able-bodied friends in esports in the way they can’t do or haven’t been able to do in traditional sports,” he said.

GEF commission member and former New Zealand national women’s football team player Rebecca Smith said esports could help young people who did not engage in the usual team-based activities. “I find it really hard watching some of the kids come through that don’t know how to handle some of the pressure or some of the challenges that are coming (in life), and this is what sports teaches you,” she said.

“So, I think that there’s so many opportunities in esports to learn traditional sports values, like communication, resilience, teamwork.” – The ABC of SPORT.