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This is the first of a two-part series on growing focus on player health and wellness in the esports industry. Click here to read part II

Clinton “Fear” Loomis is regarded as one of the most prominent North America Dota 2 players in the past decade. His resume is decorated with strong tournament finishes with Evil Geniuses and highlighted by winning The International in 2015.

But that almost didn’t happen due to injury.

In 2014, the pain wasn’t gradual. Loomis noticed that all of a sudden, he experienced pain in his right hand.

“Over the course of my career I really had no issues up until I was about 26-years-old,” Loomis said. “Then I started to noticed I was having some pain whenever I clicked.”

Loomis had to stop playing because he couldn’t manage the pain. Even the most basic of daily tasks put too much stress on his right hand. He couldn’t brush his teeth using his right hand because of the pain. Gripping the handle was difficult because of how shot and overused his hand was.

He thought he’d never play again.

“It took many, many months until I started to be able to play just a little bit more, even then it was limited, and I didn’t think I would get on a good team again,” Loomis said.

But as Loomis dedicated himself to recovery, he realized that he could play at a high level—if he took care of his body.

Credit: Clinton “Fear” Loomis

It’s been four years since Loomis’ injury. He predicts that he’s gone through between 10-15 braces for his arm. He’s purchased three different large massaging devices and around 15 or so handheld massagers.

“What drew me back in was my love of the game, to be honest,” he said. “Competing is just something that I’m drawn to.”

After spending some time as a coach, and later in a limited playing role for Evil Geniuses, Loomis was able to more fully return to competitive play in 2015. That very same year he solidified his legacy with a win at The International.

Loomis’ fairytale story isn’t the same as many esports athletes though. The industry is filled with players who retire young. At 30-years-old, Loomis is seen as a bit of a relic in the esports scene, but that’s what he wants for the future of esports.

The esports industry is still young and developing, and the health and wellness of players isn’t something that has been at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Players have tended to chase short-sighted goals and ignore the necessary maintenance required to achieve longevity. As a result, burnout has become synonymous with esports.

“Especially when you’re younger you think you’re pretty much indestructible,” Loomis said. “From my point of view, I definitely give my tips and share my knowledge on what I went through. I think it’s very important to talk about ergonomics and taking care of your body so these types of things don’t happen.”

Time to Ice Up, Son

With the rapid growth of esports, it’s not just veteran players who are looking to inject the industry with the values of health and wellness. As more teams give attention to player health, brands have looked to stake their claim on esports.

Credit: Hyperice

Hyperice is a company that specializes in making rehabilitation and recovery devices for traditional athletes, but earlier in the fall the company decided to take its shot at esports.

Using Pittsburgh Steelers wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster as an ambassador, the company advertised the gaming benefits of its electronic massaging devices.

Related Article: Hyperice Names NFL Pro JuJu Smith-Schuster as Esports Ambassador

“A light went off in my head maybe six months ago. … If athletes can add a .1 on a 40 time or an inch onto a vertical leap that’s a huge differentiator for them,” said Hyperice CEO Jim Huether. “As esports continues to emerge and becomes more competitive and there’s more money involved … what’s going to happen is the competitive landscape is going to get more aggressive.” “We thought we could be the company that bridges the gap and brings tools and technology used by elite athletes to the world of esports in a meaningful way.”

Huether said that he wanted to enter esports authentically though. Instead of paying top dollar to align with an esports team or personality right out of the gate, he wanted to use someone who naturally had a tie to his products that happened to also love gaming.

Since using Smith-Schuster as a way to say “hello” to esports, Huether says Hyperice has been contacted by numerous esports teams interested in how to best incorporate recovery protocols and therapy technology.

“JuJu being an elite athlete was a great first step for us to help gamers understand that he can bring the same tools and technology that he has access to in the professional training room and bring that into the esports world,” Huether said.



Credit: Hyperice

Hyperice plans to be completely immersed in esports in the next year as it continues to work with Loomis’ Evil Geniuses and other teams, and the company even had a group of people attend BlizzCon to discuss the potential of adding an educational “recovery station” for gamers at the event.

“They invited us out and we went to the event this year with their team to try to feel out what we could create at that event,” Huether said.

While Hyperice is currently providing gamers with devices that were originally intended for traditional sports therapy, Huether added that they’re working on a product designed for gamers to be released as early as the second quarter of 2019.

Loomis has personally used Hyperice equipment and provided feedback to the company as they continue their esports initiative. He believes these types of initiatives by companies are what’s going to help build esports into a sustainable industry with healthy competitors.