For my first post on Medium, I thought I’d share my eSports discovery story.

I’m relatively new to the world of competitive video-gaming. I discovered it about 4 years ago in High School after stumbling upon this video of SlayerS_BoxeR’s perfect SCV rush against Yellow. At first, I didn’t understand what I was watching…but I knew it was something amazing. Listen to that crowd! Listen to the enthusiasm of the casters!

I was hooked. From that moment on I absorbed as much information about eSports as I could. I had no idea that the hobby I had enjoyed all my life could actually be as competitive as professional baseball or football. I’d never been a “real sports” fan, but this was something different.

I started looking up and watching full StarCraft: Brood War matches on YouTube. At first, the videos I found were all in Korean, until I discovered Team Liquid and Day[9]. I couldn’t get enough information. At my fingertips was a community of gaming fans who were extremely passionate about competition and elevating gaming to more than just a hobby…but an actual career.

Then StarCraft 2 launched and it seems as though the scene completely exploded. I remember watching my first live tournament, the Intel Extreme Masters in Cologne, and seeing Evil Geniuses’ IdrA, an American, take second place. And maybe it’s a little odd…but I felt more pride for my country at that moment than when I watched the Olympics.