A ‘trickle down’ effect
THERE are those clubs that take the raw talent, spend hours developing it to become truly good, if not great players, just to see a wealthier organisation swoop in and, in the view of the club that has developed the talent, poach the player with promises of greater rewards and benefits. This can be quite disheartening for the club that has developed, nurtured, and coached the player from the foundation phases. Sometimes those very clubs that have spent such efforts in developing players fail as they not only lose heart, but also lose the ability to become financially viable. However, this is not a problem that only occurs in esports, a form of competition using video games. It is found across the board in all sports where amateur and professional entities exist. So, what is to be done? In some sports there is a “trickle down” effect, for example, where a player is “bought” by a club, a portion of the price is allocated to the club that first developed him or her. In South Africa, since there are few, if any, professional esports athletes, perhaps a portion of prize money won by teams using players who they themselves have taken from other clubs, should be paid across to such clubs. This in itself will reward those clubs for developing the talent and ensure the continual growth and sustainability of top-of-the-line competition. With Mind Sports South Africa having more than 68 school clubs affiliated, it is likely that many of the future top players will have emerged from a school club. This means that such “trickle down” effect will directly benefit esports at school level.