There are a lot of young players who want to compete in esports and to visit gaming events. For many kids (and adults), esports is more than a hobby. But some parents are scared that their kids play too much video games and tell them to play outside instead. Parents often seem to judge esports due to ignorance. I think every kid deserves a parent that is trying to understand, care about, and take part of their passion. Judging without giving it a chance is not caring. I would like to tell you about a great example of parents who understand this important lesson.

Riccardo ”Reynor” Romiti is a StarCraft player from Italy. I met him at DreamHack Stockholm last weekend. He is 12 years old and has already reached Grand Master, the highest league in StarCraft 2. He did it with admirable support from his parents and help from his team.

– My parents are supporting me a lot. They like the game and they trust me. When we can, we go to every lan. They are so amazing! The team is amazing too, they are so nice and funny people, says Reynor.

Reynor at DreamHack Stockholm. Photo: Jonathan Rieder Lundkvist

Reynor is part of team Myinsanity’s Academy. An organisation that treats him as family.

– He is like a little brother to all of us, says his teammate Emily ”Queene” Krumlinde.

He gets a lot of help and support from his teammates. To see them together was amazing. This is exactly how I wish young players to be treated. That they could all have supportive parents and a group of people to train with.

Reynor made it to Grand Master when he visited the Myinsanity gaming house to train with his teammates. The first thing he did when he reached GM was to call his parents.

– I called them at 3:00 in the night and they were so scared, but when I said I was GM my mom said: ”Good job I’m so happy, when you come back home I’ll cook you a zerg cake” and my father was so tired but happy at the same time.

I think supportive parents and organisations are key to make esports bigger and better and to form great players. That is key in order to make esports grow from below! Reynor is a good example of that.

A while back I wrote an article in Swedish around this subject. It can be found here.