John, Sadokist himself and mother Carolyn during ESL New York this year.

From hockey to photography and now the caster chair

"He was asked to do a game over the internet for fun and someone recognized his skills. It got him a gig at " for Cancer" in Halifax, then a Montreal gig, then a small part with ESEA ,working from home for a few bucks. I had heard some of the casts and thought he had some skills. I reached out to some of my radio colleagues and said they should hire him as an on air talent. Good thing that didn't happen.



But as a Dad I was going: "MATT stop gaming so much!"... When ESEA offered him a gig in Dallas my first question was "OK are they paying you?" His answer was "No, but I get a free trip!" My response was "Does that pay the bills?". He went back to Dallas 6 months later and I asked the same question and got the same answer. I could see that he was finding some sort of acceptance in the field, but had no idea where it could go. Sure we had heard stories of gamers making insane amounts of money, but that was like a one in a million thing.



When Matt came back from his second Dallas trip, he told us that he was being considered for the MLG X-Games gig. That sparked my attention, "X-Games...That's big!". He was sitting at work in our car lot when he got confirmed for the gig. I got a call: "Dad, I got X-Games, I'm outta here!". Of course I said; "are they paying you" and he said "YES!". The rest is history", John recalls, when I asked him about how it all started out for Matt.

"X-Games...that's big"

— Sadokists fathers reaction when Sadokist got his first bigger casting job.



"When I realized how big this could be I quickly started trying to coach him on broadcast techniques. This was my forte. As it turned out, Matt had my talent, and fortunately a lot more. We watched, astounded, online as he did that first big gig. In fact our whole neighborhood watched. I had no idea where it would go from there but I knew he had found his career. It seemed a surprise to us that there was this whole world as an online video caster but I think Matt had worked harder than we knew to make it happen", he says.

Sadokist here together with Daniel "ddk" Kapadia, during one of the first bigger events he casted; MLG X Games Aspen



"When Matt was at his first event at X-Games I had to drop over to a neighbors house. I was telling her what Matt was up to. Her 15 year old son heard the conversation and came into the room and said" see Mom, I told you, me and my friends are pretty good at this, we can make a living with it" The Mom's response was jokingly, John please leave.... I don't know that its a big thing for the "elder" , i hate that word now, generation to accept it, it's just a big thing to understand what it is to most parents. First, most parents don't live on the internet the way the current generation does, and if they do, they are pretty pleased when they have mastered Facebook, and really have no idea how tweet, or do anything else cool.



Most have no idea what Twitch is. I tell so many of my peers, Matt broadcasts video on twitch.tv, they don't realize that's a URL. When I tell them they had over a million viewers over a weekend, they are floored. Most understand the arena part, and figure that is the "show" they have no idea that it is broadcast globally. When you explain the regionality of TV to them Versus the globalness of Twitch, you often get a blank stare. So it's not acceptance, it's understanding it", he explain.

An example of one of Johns' Facebook posts, here prior to ESL One New York

"Being a parent is the product of your own upbringing and beliefs so sometimes it's difficult to tell parents anything. I was very lucky that my Dad had a lot of experience working with people as a clergyman, and that he had worked a lot with youth, as a Chaplin at Dalhousie University in Halifax. So my upbringing involved a lot of patience and a lot of freedom to make decisions on my own", he says and continues:



"Like the time my Dad caught me smoking when I was like 10 years old. I didn't get a beating or even a long lecture. I got invited to join him Sunday after church, and after our family Sunday dinner, Dad hauled out his pipe, and a very large cigar for me. He said "let's have a smoke", and he made me inhale every puff. I turned green, I think I puked, and I never smoked again. So my advice is let your kids do what attracts them, and guide them along the way", he says.

"My advice is let your kids do what attracts them, and guide

them along the way"

Johns' best advice to other parents that can relater

"If it's Esports, ask them what they are playing, who they play with, and what their ambitions are. If your kids into gaming, let them go for it, and guide them, like you would with anything they do. Who knows, maybe they will be the next Sadokist or Snax", he finishes.

Generation clash. Maybe one of the biggest reasons for miscellaneous conflicts in our society on many levels. The most prominent gap could be divided into two camps, those who were raised long before today's IT-society and those who has grown up with technology all around. Computer gaming is one of the most exposed phenomenons that is often criticized on maybe the most obvious aspect; health. How do you explain to your parents that you want to invest yourself in an industry built upon sitting still in front of a computer?I got the chance to speak with John Trivett, for many people a completely unknown name, but whose son is one of the most successful CS:GO-casters. This is the story about how Matthew ”Sadokist” Trivett, with the help from his parents support, got where he is today.Hundred thousands of viewers go online to follow the professionals and their fight to be the ones lifting the trophy in the middle of the stage. The big arena is filled with thousands of fans with signs of all kinds, colorful shirts that show their support to the team. The sound of cheering is silenced by two very known voices. One of them belongs to Matthew Trivett, more known as Sadokist. There was really no one who believed that he would end up in the casters chair someday, not the least his father John. After giving everything to be a hockey player in the Canadian city Halifax, then quitting to work in a store and later started studying at Art School focusing on photography, came one of the first gigs; ”Frag for Cancer” in his hometown:John himself has past experience with broadcasting, in radio, something that seems to have been great help when it was time to support his son.But how do you actually explain to others who doesn’t understand how big it is, what esports really is? According to John it’s hard and it’s more about understanding rather than just acceptance.Pride is one of the most prominent words that permeates my perception of John as a father. Prior to most of the big CS:GO-events where Sadokist casts or if bigger news about him just went public, you may see a Facebook post from him about it.When I ask John about advice for other parents he shares and draws parallels with something he himself experienced as a child, that seems to have characterized his thought process as a parent. Patience and to be able to do what you really want is two of the main aspects that has influenced his own upbringing and something he has chosen to apply to his own children's.Commitment, curiosity and acceptance seems to be the key to a good relationship with your children if they want to embark on a field that is unknown to yourself. I mean, as he says; ”who knows?”You can tell that John is a true narrator, as evidenced by the detailed answers to my questions which come with tongue in cheek answers. After being on the receiving end of his way of sharing his feeling, thoughts and opinions on the life as an ”esports father” I realize how similar Sadokist seem to be to his father. As they used to say; ”Like father, like son”, right?