E-Sports Trainer Project

 

Since 1999 when the information communications technologies and internet began to gather speed, the concept of computer games as means of developing skills – swift mind, team – and fair play, strategic decision making and mean of self-expression and realization, appeared. In the beginning the social attitude to this phenomenon was mostly negative. As time went by more and more people were attracted by the challenges of this new way of expression. Even more – the first electronic sports tournaments that sprang up in 2000, became a real sports competitions.

Presently most of the young people that active exercise electronic sports do that for leisure and have their experience at home or in the internet centers during local separate competitions. However their informal individual training became insufficient for their participation in different tournaments. In this sense necessity for acquiring professional skills and competences of players as well the need of professional trainers, grew up.

In the different parts of the world the field of electronic sports has been developed and popularized in different ways – some regions of Asia and America already have their qualified electronic sports trainers. In comparison with them the situation in Europe is quite different. As an organization, actively dealing with youth activities, in particular in the field of electronic sports, Bulgarian Federation of Electronic Sports (BFES) found out the lack of specialists in this area on European level. So, BFES and its partners from four European countries initiated the idea for establishing the profession “trainer in electronic sports” through realizing of a project under the Leonardo da Vinchi Programme of the European Community.

The main objective of the initiative is to outline the new sector of job opportunities for youth in the field of e-sports and to promote a new European area of cooperation, active citizenship and employability between young people. The specific aims of the project are as follows:

* To design the definitions and characters of the new proposed job profile of e-sports trainers;

* To attract the already established professional trainers in related fields to participate in practice courses within the electronic sports field of vocational training;

* To create conditions for improving the social integrity of the people at a disadvantage and to give them opportunity for better self-approval and self-perfection;

* To develop the curricula training modules for vocational training of e-sport professional coaches;

* To improve the quality of non-formal training that combines physical skills of young people with their mental skills, in the spirit of cooperation, teamwork, fair play, exchange of experience and good practices.

* To set the dimensions of the new training area – the area of professional trainers.

In the period of 24 months a team of young people experienced e-sport from Austria, Bulgaria, Greece and Romania will create a real and digital basis for developing and pilot implementation of a vocational training course through integrated sports interactive methods under the assistance of international competitors and experts in the related e-sports fields – ICT, gaming industry, national and world gaming tournaments.

The current project proposes new meThods and solutions for stimulating the learning needs of the “trainers in electronic sports” in the VET systems in Europe, as well the dissemination of the electronic sports on the continent. It contributes to the development of the European labor market and the transformations, modernization and adaptation of the European educational systems in the way they are defined in Copenhagen.

Partners

Bulgarian Federation of Electronic Sports is a non-governmental organization that works for stimulating and promoting the growth up in experience of professional Bulgarian competitors in electronic sport. BFES activities are aimed at that the young people to be accustomed to fairplay, as the Federation promote the most talented competitors. Due to its experience and the contacts with international organizations BFES contributes to the development of teamwork, communication and optimum use of the opportunities of Internet with the view to the future personal and professional realization of the young people in Bulgaria.

New Bulgarian University. On 3 May 1990 Society for New Bulgarian University has been founded. Its main idea is to create a non-governmental academic institution, an alternative to the state university. The educational philosophy of NBU reflects its firm belief in the importance of the liberal arts foundation to all students placing equal emphasis on development of skills and acquisition of knowledge, spiritual and social development and professional specialization.

Marie Curie Association is a newly established non-profit organization which main activities are directed toward people with disabilities. The ambitious team involves economists, psychologists, PR specialists, physicists, lawyers, psychologists, journalists and other specialists working in the sphere of disabilities. Association’s goals and objectives connected to disabled people presuppose intensive activity and generating of new ideas contributing to the socialization and proper realization of our target groups. That’s why we are very open to new contacts and cooperation with other organizations with ideas and activities similar to ours.

“Optima Advisors” Consulting Company is a consulting company supporting foreign and Bulgarian medium-size firms in their business activities abroad. Through successful cooperation with European companies we have gained substantial experience in this field.  The client’s satisfaction and success is the core of our business activities. The company offers its clients tailor-made services to meet their individual needs – results-driven and in a professional manner. For the solution of specific issues, the team of Optima Advisors works in close cooperation with partners from other consulting firms. By combining different areas of expertise, know-how and experience it is able to efficiently manage large-scale assignments.

3s Unternehmensberatung GmbH operates on the interface between education and the labour market. It has designed projects in the fields of knowledge, learning and work, and has been engaged in developing methods, tools and instruments for anticipating and assessing qualifications and competences. 3s is experienced in the development and comparison of curricula and has been engaged in projects on internationalization of vocational training and higher education. 3s is furthermore the editorial department of two national research networks in VET, is responsible for the compilation of newsletters to disseminate information in Austrian VET, is editing agency for a number of publications (print products and online information databases which are used for information, guidance and counseling for learning, career and development), and is editing its own book series (e.g. „Digital Divide und kommerzielle Internetcafes“, 2003 – a research study about the use of internet in Austria).

The University of Thessaly has given particular importance to the cultivation. of principles that upgrade science with the aim to offer the best possible services to man and the public in general.

Professional Gamers League promotes the concept of e-Sports and gets competitive gaming recognized as a cultural phenomenon for the young generation in Romania and worldwide. It has its Head offices in Bucharest, and branches in 10 major cities in Romania; targets a population of 600,000 monthly average active PC gamers, with a competitive culture based on Gaming Centres and runs monthly LAN competitions with cash and product prizes, along with Internet.