They don't have a ball, a racket or a bike. At home, we equip ourselves with a keyboard, a mouse or even a controller to practice a booming discipline: e-sport.
We went to meet these young people gamers, in Draguignan (Var), at the Digital and Innovation Center.
A few stairs to climb, before entering a fantasy world populated by figurines and characters idolized by youth. But be careful! “We don’t sell them dreams”warns Yann Camilleri straight away.
Discipline before learning
With experience as a multiple world champion on several game franchises, he founded the PuR E-Sport association in 2012. His objective: to democratize this emerging sport and dismantle the clichés that have hard skin – the most widespread being that “Video games make teenagers violent”.
In 2017, the premises, named “Gaming center”, was born. There the emphasis is on the fact “that you can't play anything with just anyone”underlines the creator of the Dracénoise association.
“When young people come to us, their parents tell us that they tend to get angry when they play.” The player must channel this hatred of defeat.
To compensate for this, break systems are established, as well as a fairly specific exercise: “We put a sheet in front of his screen to observe his reaction. Generally, at first, he removes the sheet immediately.”
Discipline is also required at home, to avoid excesses: it is up to the player to organize themselves and set the same rules as at the Gaming center.
Rules that seem well integrated for Théo (1)21 ans. “I always prioritize my studies. If I feel that my academic results are dropping, then I reduce my playing time.” Easier said than done, admits his friend Maxime (1)19 ans: “My parents help me stay disciplined, so not much of a choice!” the boy confesses with a nervous laugh.
A booming practice
Once the player has the right attitude, the team will determine his personality.
“We are going to work on what we call soft skills. We will find out if, in his daily life, he has a group leader side, reflexes. And vice versa because, in video games, he can develop qualities that he does not show in real life.” These methods thus make it possible to build a group to establish game strategies and roles as in collective games such as Valuing (tactics and combat), Rainbow Six Siege (tactics and combat) or FC 25 (football).
Today, the town of Draguignan is working with PuR E-Sport to allow young people to play with healthy supervision. “Elected officials had already looked into the issue”indicates Yann Camilleri, but they needed a guarantee of fifty members for the first year.
“In one month, I had already brought together 108 licensees, I didn’t have enough room to accommodate everyone!” Since then, 290 of them have benefited from the infrastructure, comprising around thirty computers and twenty latest generation consoles. “With VR headsets (virtual reality), the F1 simulation seats, there are around 70 machines.”
An XXL tournament in Nice in 2025
Enough to be comfortable when tackling major e-sport competitions. But to become a “crack”, the owner warns: “It requires a high mentality, sacrifices in your personal life and a lot of training.”
Nothing to discourage the most motivated from participating one day in the Olympic Games, the undisguised objective of e-sport fans.
Before that, Nice will host one of the biggest fighting game tournaments in the world in 2025 (2). As a certain Italian plumber in blue overalls and red cap (3) would say: here we go!
1. First names have been changed, at the request of players.
2. Evo (for Evolution Championship Series) from October 10 to 12, 2025 at the exhibition center. A first in Europe. He brought together 10,000 people last summer in Las Vegas.
3. The avatar of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros.
A license from PuR E-Sport and its Gaming Center costs €170 the first year, €150 the following years.
Furthermore, in competition, 20% of cash prizes obtained by the players will be donated to the association.
>> France Esports, a sort of French e-sport federation, lists around thirty structures in the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes. Information: france-esports.org. Gaming Center PuR E-Sport: 55 avenue du 4-Septembre, in Draguignan. Information: 06.40.31.43.73. or [email protected].
>> Cicadas Gaming: 18 avenue Colbert in Toulon. Contact: 07.81.32.08.56. or [email protected]
>> The Hive: 1 Rue de Metz, in Cannes. Information: 06.01.49.72.29. or [email protected]
>> Opti Esport / ASBTP Esport, 42 avenue Gallieni in Nice (opening January 11). Information: 07.65.74.78.75. or [email protected]
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