PCA Updates
PCA is proud to announce our newest partnership with XP League—a leader in the eSports industry. Popularity is growing for eSports at an exponential rate and has moved into the mainstream. Hundreds of college scholarships are offered annually, and the professional eSports market has become a viable career option in both development and competitive play. Pairing this popularity with the more than 60 million participants of youth sports annually in the U.S., according to a study by the National Institutes of Health, makes for a winning combination. Combining the fun and excitement of gaming with positive coaching, social skill building, and core values-based programs, fill a tremendous need in our communities and our kids’ lives.
XP Founder and CEO, Jay Melamed, shared his thoughts on the partnership: “Online competitive video games often lead kids to walk a fine line between what is acceptable and what is toxic behavior. XP League offers kids eSports as a fun, exciting, and social way to build life skills. By following a traditional youth sports format, parents and players have little to no learning curve joining a team. Through partnerships like PCA, our coaches receive everything necessary to be successful regardless of their level of experience or expertise in eSports. Kids want to play and compete, but they want to have fun while doing it. Through our partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance, all coaches will be certified in Double-Goal coaching to keep players engaged, excited, and supported.”
PCA's National Partnership and Marketing Manager, Marti Reed shared the power of the partnership in furthering PCA's mission of teaching life lessons through sports. “Through competitive video gaming and tournament structures, eSports has been a non-conventional way for kids to interact and compete. Whether it be a lack of interest in the traditional-style sports, the sports hiatus due to the pandemic, or a genuine love for gaming, youth participation in video gaming is consistently rising, and there is a major opportunity to teach life lessons in this culture. We are excited to be ingrained in the XP League experience, as we build a foundation of sportsmanship and provide all eSports coaches with the tools to teach life lessons and develop social, emotional learning skills for all youth players.”
What is ESports?
eSports (also known as electronic sports) is a form of sport competition using video games, online with multiple players. Playing eSports involves teamwork and cooperation as coaches’ form teams of students and create strategies to accomplish their objectives. Just like a baseball or soccer team, each player on the eSports team has a role to play.
About XP League
XP League delivers kids, aged 8-15, the experience of professional style game play just like the pros. Their innovative program bridges the gap between conventional youth athletics and competitive eSports. Through coach-led weekly practice and match play, XP League emphasizes social & sportsmanship values to develop lasting life skills—the thrill and excitement of competitive gaming in a positive format.
PLAYERS: XP League offers elementary and middle school aged kids a fun and safe environment to enjoy competitive gaming with their friends. Through PCA’s positive coaching, a set of core sportsmanship values, and social interaction, kids develop life skills while improving their game and have a blast while doing it. The model follows conventional youth athletics with a weekly practice/weekly match format. The seasonal format keeps the players engaged for the long term.
PARENTS: XP League is a healthy option for competitive online gaming for kids younger than high school age. Their professional and values-based environment allows a level of control and instruction to build confidence and life skills while learning to be a competitive eSports athlete. The XP League and PCA partnership ensures that kids are engaged in a healthy and socially beneficial model of gaming. Weekly match streaming will keep family and friends engaged in the action.
To learn more about XP League, visit their website.
Follow XP League on Instagram and Facebook.
About PCAPositive Coaching Alliance (PCA) is a national non-profit organization with the mission of creating a positive, character-building youth sports environment that results in BETTER ATHLETES, BETTER PEOPLE.
Youth sports currently involves 40M children, which presents a tremendous platform on which to develop youth character and life skills. Research has shown that in order for youth to accrue these benefits from sports, sports needs to be done in a way that creates a positive youth development culture. PCA ensures sports are ‘done right’ with programming that is research-based and designed to have an impact at three levels in a youth sports organization or school:
Since its founding in 1998, PCA has established 18 chapters nationwide, partnered with roughly 3,500 schools and youth sports organizations to deliver more than 20,000 live group workshops, reaching 19.2 million youth. PCA offers interactive online courses and has thousands of multimedia tips and tools for coaches, parents, athletes, and leaders available free of charge on PCADevZone.org. PCA also runs two annual awards programs: a scholarship program for high school student-athletes and a coach award program to recognize youth and high school coaches who strive to win and teach life lessons.
PCA gains support from a National Advisory Board of elite coaches, professional and Olympic athletes, organization leaders, and academics who share PCA’s mission including Dusty Baker, Carol Dweck, Herm Edwards, Julie Foudy, Phil Jackson, and Steve Kerr. PCA is proud to partner with more than 50 national governing bodies, youth serving organizations and professional leagues and teams including Boys & Girls Club of America, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and US Lacrosse.
To learn more about Positive Coaching Alliance, contact:
Casey Miller
casey_miller@positivecoach.org
650-210-0814
