The need for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic has shut down or postponed a lot of what the Wilbraham Parks and Recreation typically does.
From soccer games to youth football to chess, the parks and recreation department has to wait until Governor Charlie Baker’s emergency order ends, which is currently scheduled for May 18, before opening up camp and summer program registration.
But Connor Duquette had another idea for the community: esports.
“This is a really cool way to build community, while also social distancing, staying safe, and really trying to nip this whole coronavirus thing in the butt,” Duquette said.
The department is now working to host three tournaments this month.
Tournaments for MLB The Show 2020 and Rocket League will begin Tuesday, May 5. The following Tuesday, May 12, a tournament for Madden NFL 2020 will start.
The tournaments are open to Wilbraham residents and non-residents of all ages, all you need is a PS4, Xbox, or PC.
For the first MLB tournament, the ages ranged from nine to nearly 50 years old.
“They’re playing against each other,” Duquette said. “And I’ll tell you right now the nine-year-old is actually in the semi-finals right now.”
The games, two of which center around traditional sports, and Rocket League, which is a soccer match played by cars, were chosen for a very specific reason — they’re nonviolent.
“We’re promoting the safety of staying home, while also promoting the competitiveness to stay together,” he said.
But once the pandemic is over and social distancing is no longer required, esports isn’t going away.
Duquette has been talking with other parks and recreation departments around the state, working on getting more towns involved. Eventually Duquette would like to see a Massachusetts esports league.
“Much like you’d have baseball teams, you’d have Wilbraham team, a Ludlow team, a Springfield team,” he said.
From there, players and teams can be ranked which would prevent new players from having to play much higher level players.
Duquette would also like to eventually see players getting together and playing outside their homes, possibly at an esports facility run by the department.
“People will be able to come and compete in person against each other, kind of like what the pros do now,” he said.
Because although it’s a great way to stay connected while we have to stay home, it’s even better when people can play together in person, he said.
“If you’re playing MLB The Show against somebody and you’re sitting right next to them,” he said. “And you can see the sweat on their faces and it’s the bottom of the ninth. It just brings that little extra competitiveness to the game.”
Forming those bonds and friendships aren’t something new to those who play online often, but it might be a new way to interact with your local community.
“Some of the people that I played video games with back when I was a kid, I still talk to them,” Duquette said. “You can build friendships to last a very long time through video games.”
If you’re more interested in just watching, the games will be streamed on the department’s Twitch channel.
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