Deandre “Dee” Jones is focused on making a difference.
Founder and CEO of Jump Ahead L3C, a youth-focused organization featured in Forbes in 2020 with goals such as a community center and educational workshops for children, Jones is also president of operations and a coach for children ages 11-14 in the Urban Youth Summer Basketball League.
But perhaps his latest idea has a wider impact. Jones is working to bring a professional esports tournament to the city and he thinks big, like DeVos Place big.
He said his passion lies in supporting underprivileged children who need meaningful pastimes to keep them out of trouble. He said he enjoys working one-on-one with the kids he coaches at the Urban Youth League and is proud to know that the work he does provides them with constructive ways to spend their time.
However, when the kids’ basketball season ended, Jones said those constructive outlets were closing as well.
“When these seasons are over, these kids are looking for the next opportunity,” he said.
And that opportunity may lie in the field of electronic sports.
Esports is a form of sports that takes place through video games and is often characterized by team-based competition. The games include fighting, strategy, first-person shooter, racing, card games and of course sports.
Virtually every sport that can take place in a physical space has been replicated in the esports world, with popular video game developer EAsports offering football, soccer, ice hockey, golf, basketball, Formula 1 racing and mixed martial arts games.
Other popular examples of esports include games like Fortnite, League of Legends, Call of Duty Doom, Overwatch, and even Tetris.
Esports have grown exponentially in recent years as the COVID-19 pandemic has closed schools and universities and made personal sports teams difficult to maintain. Young players are attracted to online sports rather than physical teams because of their easy access and as a way to create and maintain a community.
As esports have grown, so has the revenue around the industry. The esports sector is expected to generate more than $1 billion in revenue by 2022, money coming in through livestream ticket sales, in-game purchases, media rights, sponsorships and advertising. Tournaments, held in major cities across the country, draw in-person and live viewers in the millions as players compete for cash prizes ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars for winners.
This is the kind of income Jones wants to bring to Grand Rapids. He sees esports not only as a way to connect young children and a valuable pastime, but also as a way to engage the community and connect Grand Rapids with the wider national esports player population.
Jones has focused on this endeavor for the past year. He has been in contact with the Grand Rapids Police Department, county commissioners and community leaders, sparking interest and educating city leaders about the benefits and profitability of hosting an esports tournament.
As he continues to engage with West Michigan leaders and organizations to help develop his plan, Jones said he hopes a Grand Rapids esports tournament is poised to get underway next year.
He sees a tournament as a new way to bring the community together, imagining entities such as the police playing it against citizens or local colleges attending the event as a vendor to connect with attendees, using the common area is used as a way to make creative changes.
“(I) try to find that thing that connects everyone from all different walks of life,” Jones said. He added that he wants to “create some synergy and community trust”.
And that community aspect of esports is what has made them so popular. There are games for every type of player, and leagues and players of all ages.
“My goal is to eventually (make) Grand Rapids an esports game hub space,” said Jones. “People travel from all over the country, they come to these events … use the hotels, buy out the hotel rooms.”
Jones envisions a DeVos Place event with local and national brand sponsorship, anticipates sporting events with local teams such as the Griffins or Whitecaps, and wants well-known game influencers to participate to help attract livestream participants.
And then of course Jones wants to bring this vision to street level. As a youth-focused leader in the Grand Rapids community, Jones aims to make esports accessible to the kids he works with through Jump Ahead and the Urban Youth League.
While some schools in West Michigan have esports teams available to students, Jones wants kids in urban schools to have the same opportunity. With those leagues, he said, city kids can have a replacement for summer sports like the Urban Youth League and continue to find a supportive community and constructive outlet through team sports.
0 Comments