Rocket League’s popularity as an esports game leads to more tournaments all across the globe. This week, World Gaming announced that they will host a huge tournament with a $20,000 prize pool called the WorldGaming Rocket League Canadian Challenge.

The web platform for gaming tournaments will organize online qualifier and online playoffs in June and July to find the best 16 teams that will compete against each other at a regional offline event in Toronto on August 19th. First prize is a $10,000 check.

Only Canadian players can participate

The bad news for a majority of the Rocket League community: While it’s great that this tournament targets specifically amateurs by excluding all RLCS and RLRS participants as competitors, it also approaches the tournament from a regional angle. Only Canadians (over the age of 14) are allowed to participate. If you’re from the US, Asia, Europe or any other region that Rocket League is popular in, you’re not allowed to be a part of the tournament.

It might be counterintuitive to scale a global phenomenon like esports down to a regional level, but it might become a trend – and that’s good news. Esports comes from a grassroots movement. The community of every game is what turns a normal video game into esports in the first place. But as the big major events step in and grab most of the attention, smaller events, tournaments and leagues are slowly fading away. And we need these smaller events to keep the scene healthy, to find new players, to keep people interested in Rocket League as an esport.

ICYMI: @WorldGaming is hosting a $20,000 3v3 tourney for all CANADIAN players the age of 14+, who are not in RLCS/RLRS. All qualifying teams will be sent to Scotia Bank Theatre in Toronto on August 19th. SIGN UP HERE -> https://t.co/2JCF8rjZs9 pic.twitter.com/ByRnHLBnEg — Brandon (@Lachinio) May 30, 2018

The region defines an event and its storylines

You might say: “But why only Canadians then?” And the answer is: Regionalization is a good thing, because it strengthens local communities which consequently strengthen an entire esports region. Just think about this upcoming Canadian tournament and the sheer amount of young players that will form teams and start taking their training seriously. I bet that some of them will go on and try to enter the NA RLRS.

The fact that you need to find players within your own country makes it all the more appealing to participate and allows for specifically targeted sponsoring. The region defines an event, makes it easier for viewers to get a grasp of storylines. The storyline in this particular example: World Gaming is looking for the next Canadian Rocket League stars. And that storyline might turn into some entertaining content over at Twitch, where the event will be broadcasted.

Reminder to all my Canadian followers, there’s a $20k event happening pretty damn soon that’s open to all Canadians not in the RLCS or RLRS. Should be pretty fun. https://t.co/p5wSODm0nE — Nose Dude / Trevor (@DudeWithNose_RL) May 29, 2018

We need more events

Bottom line: While I understand that players from other regions might be sad that they’re not allowed to compete for such an amazing prize pool, we should all be happy that such events exist, and we should take this as a motivation to spark the fire in our own regions so that more events like this one pop up.

If you want to learn more about WorldGaming’s tournament (probably because you’re Canadian), head over to this page.

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