‘This is a sport.’ What makes an esports athlete an athlete? We asked the pros

Like many professional athletes, Kenneth Hailey likes to begin his day with a light breakfast and some cardio. That usually means anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes jogging, and maybe a little Stairmaster or some skipping rope.

“I find for me, it just helps me get ready and prepare for the day,” Hailey told the Star in a recent interview.

With his morning routine out of the way, Hailey will head to the Bell Gaming Centre, a training facility attached to the Coca-Cola Coliseum, as he dons his second moniker of Kenny Got Work, a professional NBA 2K League player for Raptors Uprising GC.

The NBA 2K League is the NBA’s official NBA 2K video game esports league and Raptors Uprising GC is the Toronto Raptors’ official 2K League team. Hailey has been a member of the team since the league first launched in 2018 and has accomplished just about everything one can, including winning league MVP honours in 2020, with the exception of the ultimate prize: a championship.

Like his MLSE peers on the Raptors, Maple Leafs, Marlies, Argonauts and Toronto FC, Hailey, a Memphis, Tenn., native, is focused every day on trying to win a championship for his adopted home.

“That’s something that keeps me motivated,” he said. “To bring Raptors Uprising a championship is my ultimate goal.”

Hailey talks like an athlete, trains like an athlete — he’ll put in excess of 30 hours of practice per week, not including film room study and work he may do on his own time — and has the competitive drive and motivation of an athlete.

But because he’s an esports athlete, many won’t give Hailey and others making their living playing video games professionally the same credit.

Like real-life hockey or basketball, going pro in virtual sports or any other kind of video game requires a long, hard road that sees only the best of the best rise to the top.

“They’re professional at what they do, they’re an expert at what they do,” said Kevin Franklin, Raptors Uprising’s head coach. “That’s what sets them apart, and it’s miles apart.”

Added Shane Talbot, CEO of AMP Entertainment and former esports manager of MLSE: “I think if you want to understand why people marvel at pro gamers in a similar way to pro athletes today, it’s because of the statistics. It’s because it’s the 0.001 per cent of players who are actually capable of doing it, similar to sports.”

To Talbot’s point, playing a video game is really easy to do. Nearly anybody can do it as the physical barrier to entry is almost nonexistent. It’s why game franchises such as Call of Duty have such large player bases. But more players means more competition, and rising to the top and reaching the highest level as a professional is that much harder — particularly because the grassroots infrastructure isn’t necessarily there to support up-and-coming players yet.

“The age level of the players that I’m working with is similar to the ones I’ve worked with before, but I would say their place in the experience ladder, if you will, is different,” said Borko Popic, a former Canada Basketball and Ryerson Rams basketball coach who is now the senior manager and performance coach for OverActive Media, a Toronto-based esports and entertainment company. “To elaborate, a university athlete in basketball has gone through playing elementary school basketball, has gone through high school basketball, has gone through club, maybe provincial level, some national, all to get to university. So they’ve gone through a gauntlet of experiences — of getting cut, of winning, of losing.

“Esports professional level is, in most cases, they played maybe challengers, which is one level before the pros, and then before that they were, essentially, on their own. So it’s a very kind of shortened journey to get to this elite level. Not to say it’s any easier, it’s just you’ve gone through less experiences, less ups and downs.”

This lack of experience is normally made up by intense practice time by esports pros.

The Toronto Defiant are an OverActive Media pro team that compete in the Overwatch League. Defiant player Joo-Seok (Twilight) Lee and his teammates scrimmage six hours a day in three separate blocks beginning at 1 p.m., and, when Lee heads home at 9 p.m., he’ll usually put in a couple more hours of individual practice.

Doing all this can be hard on not only the mental side of things, but the physical as well. Sitting for prolonged periods isn’t a good thing for overall wellness. As such, at OverActive Media, coaches like Popic encourage their players to eat healthy. Jamie (Insight) Craven, who plays for the Toronto Ultra in the top-level Call of Duty League, has a penchant for avocado and eggs on toast. Exercise, knowing the value of proper sleep and regular stretching are part of the training process.

All of this is required for optimal performance for big events such as the Summer Showdown Overwatch League tournament, which will be held in Toronto from Sept. 8-11 at Mattamy Athletic Centre.

No matter what it may be, going professional in something is difficult, and video games are no exception.

“You have to view yourself as an athlete,” Hailey said. “We’re playing and we’re still a part of the league and we compete against other professional teams. And just like any other sport — and this is a sport — we’re competing. That’s why we classify ourselves as athletes.”

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