To muster the constitution to chase your goals is something to be commended, and Overwatch Contenders is rife with young adults looking to chase their dreams. Cameron "Fusions" Bosworth, main tank of the British Hurricane, is one such a player who has a strong presence from his family backing him up.

After spending nearly a year putting his nose to the grindstone and sparring against other young aspirants, he’s garnered a good amount of attention following the Hurricane’s victory during Overwatch Contenders Europe. From Reinhardt to Winston, there is much more to Fusions than just a young man from the United Kingdom traveling from country to country, playing video games for a living.

“I’m from South East London and have lived there my whole life,” Fusions explained. “My town is your pretty standard suburban town on the outskirts of London with quite a few shops and some cafes and restaurants dotted all over the place.” If he wasn’t sitting at home, strategizing or practicing he would traverse the city and enjoy his free time with close friends and family. “Honestly my hometown isn’t the nicest of places,” he continued, “so if I had to say what it’s known for it’d pretty much be for ‘not being that nice.’” It may not have been the kindest hometown, but it is where Fusions laid his head to rest after practicing through the night.

"When I started traveling to compete abroad my mum especially was shocked, she still tells everyone about it now.”

- Cameron "Fusions" Bosworth

“When I was very young I started playing strategy games with my Dad on his really old computer,” Fusions said. “He liked those games a lot so I started playing them.” This was a recurring theme these days that continued to pop up again and again like a beautiful marigold— The idea that families were not only playing the same games, but they were sharing and bonding over them.

Today’s professional gamers are being raised on the basis that playing video games is acceptable, thus, reducing the stigma and internal criticism caused by a loved one, like a parent. You hear this same painful story echoed many times with the figurative inaugural class of esports professionals.

For Fusions, it all stemmed from a fairly positive outlook from his family, particularly his father, on video games. He continued to tell me his proverbial origin story, “[this] led me to become really into gaming in general and eventually going console to console, from the original PlayStation to Xbox 360 before switching to PC.” Through this passion and bond that he shared with his Dad, he would eventually, many years later, discover Overwatch.

He first found Overwatch when he saw a Twitch streamer play it during one of their live streams. “I never really understood it so I didn’t really watch,” Fusions explained. “During the open beta my friends were playing it a lot and I was very frustrated with other games at the time, so I thought I’d give it a go. [I] started off by playing Mercy for 15 games straight and won all 15 with my friends and instantly fell in love with the game.” From then out, he was off to the races. “When I hit pretty high on the ladder toward the end of season one and saw my friend from competitive at the time get picked up by Reunited I started to seriously think ‘Hey, maybe I can do this as well’, but it never really felt like I was actually in reach of becoming a ‘pro’ until I parted ways with nerdRage and started getting contacted by some players that I thought of as way above me at the time, it was pretty amazing.”

As one of a handful of British players in professional Overwatch and with the Overwatch World Cup right around the corner, it was time for Fusions to briefly gush about his national pride. “I feel like I could be more integrated than I am with the UK community in general,” he explains “but representing my country as a player, in general, brings me a really big sense of accomplishment, and I love seeing players from the UK cheer for me and my team because I’m from the UK so I really want to do my best to win!” His victories were not for him to celebrate alone, he played for his family, his friends, and his country. He had the Union Jack at his back and used that as a large motivating force to propel himself forward. And with all the benefit that gave, there was almost equal parts pressure weighing down on him from all angles.

One of the largest forms of pressure for young adults venturing into the world of esports is the instant and sudden notion that you are, in your own right, a celebrity. And for most young people, they’ve never faced that kind of attention and pressure, but it seemed like Fusions was doing extremely well in the spotlight.

“In terms of social media and other platforms, you’re obviously always a bit more [careful] about what you say, in case it comes off in the wrong way. In terms of being a public figure, I don’t feel like my life has really changed much on a day to day basis, aside from the fact that I have people rooting for me and cheering me on when we’re playing matches which does make me really happy!” Fusions handled the stress of the glaring eyes of the public spotlight incredibly well, large in part due to his family.

This incredible support system had not only been accepting of his career choice but facilitated him to chase after it. “My parents were generally satisfied with me choosing this path as soon as they saw me start to earn money from it,” Fusions said, “but when I started traveling to compete abroad my mum especially was shocked, she still tells everyone about it now. My family watched every single one of my games on stage and were messaging me before and after the games, so I’d say overall they’ve taken to it fairly well!”

Hearing heartwarming stories of parents so incredibly proud of their children for playing video games for a living is something fairly new to gaming. As a community, it seems like we are finally evolving past hearing about families at odds with one another and it was beautiful to hear that Overwatch was not an exception to this. However, behind the projected shield or the bulletproof steel armor, Fusions was a family man.

“My family has always been super important to me since they've always done so much for me,” Fusions said. “Especially my mum since she has always been there for me, so the fact that my mum is supporting me now really reassures me and helps me make the best of out the opportunities I have right now.”

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLGs of 2006. He started out primarily following Starcraft 2, Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has transitioned from viewer to journalist and writes freelance primarily about Overwatch and League of Legends. If you would like to know more or follow his thoughts on esports you can follow him at @Volamel .