Announcing Utah Esports Gaming Club
Utah Youth Soccer Association has partnered with Global Digital Sports (GDS) to bring youth gaming enthusiasts in the State a safe and fun way to engage in online gaming competitions, leagues, tournaments and free play. GDS makes available a video gaming platform that is designed to mirror the current processes and functions of the state youth sport association with an emphasis on risk management. The platform is designed by GDS and developed and supported by GYO Score and provides a complete digital gaming environment that includes registration integrity and numerous other safeguards that can and will support many video games. Based out of Indiana, the goal of GDS and GYO is to ensure that children of appropriate age and all backgrounds have access to safe digital space where they can play with their peers in a fun and safe way.
We invite players to participate in the state association's seasonal play (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall), which will have a variety of activities in several unique game titles per season. Some options are competitive for players driven to win, while other activities are more socially focused for kids looking to have fun and make friends.
Gaming options include:
Weekly Leagues
Players can participate in Weeklies (leagues) that will revolve around 5 weeks of Regular Season play. Players play 2 matches per week, (approximately 1 hour total of play) for a total of 10 games against opposing players. Promotion/relegation mini-cycles help in pairing players based on skill levels.
Competitive Ladders
Ladders are geared towards players who want to play with an opponent at their own pace and challenges them to a match in order to move up the ranks in the ladder.
Tournaments
Tournaments, on the other hand, will revolve around a 1-3 day event for players to compete in various formats depending on the game title (i.e. group staging, single/double elimination, etc). Ladders and leagues often lead to tournaments to determine overall winners.
Social Play
Social play will also be offered for video gaming club members. Players within the club can engage with one another for matches outside the scheduled events. This type of play is encouraged to give them age-appropriate friends to play with.
Players will be required to own a copy of the video game featured in the events (weeklies, tournaments, ladders, or social) they wish to join, as well as a compatible device to play the game. Players must have an online subscription to their video gaming device to allow for online play. Each video game will have different software and hardware requirements, so please check the details on your specific video gaming event page.
Participants are assigned to different divisions according to their age groups and console type (Xbox, Playstation, 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 Game Play Types, children will be placed into divisions based on an age group as well as console type:
12 and under
13-16 years old
17 years old & up
Winter League has already begun and continues until March. A player who wishes to register may do so at any time and their seasonal registration will run for three months from their registration date. Yearly registration is also available!
For more information and to register, visit: https://www.utahyouthsoccer.net/esports-home
