eSports Programming
Iowa Soccer e-Sports Competitions & Gaming Club
Iowa Soccer has partnered with Global Digital Sports (GDS) to help us develop an e-Sports program for our youth players ages 12-above. We are expanding into this pathway so that our players have a complementary way to be engaged in soccer outside of the physical competition. E-Sports competition is a great way for players to compete against others from across Iowa. There are numerous benefits to players participating in Iowa Soccer’s e-Sports platform.
90% of children are digitally engaged and play video games on a regular basis. When channeled appropriately, an e-Sports soccer option can be a good thing. Within the GDS platform, children, coaches, and parents can engage in a fun, competitive environment.
Who Can Participate AND When?
Participants are assigned to different divisions according to their age groups and console type (Xbox One, Playstation 4, or Nintendo Switch). Future titles that are crossplay compatible, such as Rocket League, will only be divided by age groups since all console types can play together, including PC. For the weeklies or tournaments, players between the ages of 12-19 may participate in the following age groups:
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Age groups
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12-15 years of age-Console Type (PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch)
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16-19 years of age-Console Type (PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch)
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- Upcoming 2021 Seasons
- Spring 2021 - April through June
- Summer 2021 - July through September
Digital Safety and Risk-Management
The GDS Platform is supported by GYO Score and is an online gaming community platform that is built to help connect players with gaming opportunities, tournaments, e-Sports scholarships, and more. Unlike many platforms, GDS Platform is also built to allow for parental registration and oversight of child accounts in order to help parents monitor and understand their child's gaming habits and to take advantage of potential college opportunities for e-Sports. Because GDS is the only platform that has placed an emphasis on child safety and parental involvement, Iowa Soccer selected GDS as our vendor to help facilitate online gaming leagues for our players to participate during downtime from soccer.
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GDS’s offering is unique in that it places the players’ health and safety as a top priority at all times.
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Risk-management through a player verification system and COPPA compliance
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A “Safe Space” for parents to allow their children to engage digitally
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Parental accounts to allow parents to participate in the process
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Coaching oversight & education
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Promotion/relegation to develop parity in play
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A profit center for states and clubs
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Collegiate scholarship opportunities for e-Sports scholarships
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Intra/Inter Club competitions
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Multiple Title Support
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Future international expansion
Houses with Multiple Children
Due to the way the software and hardware technology work, most weeklies (a.k.a. leagues), tournaments, or ladders require a single player to play on a single license for the event. For example, if your household has two children who wish to participate, you would need two Xbox Ones plus two copies of the game license for both players to participate at the same time.
eSports
