New Chinese e-sports organization which assesses young players formed

A new Chinese e-Sports organization named KeaHaorl was recently formed, and they are raising the bar on e-Sports recruitment. The director of Shanghai Sports Bureau is among those who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.





[L-R] Shanghai Sports Bureau Director Li Yuyi, China Digital Culture Group chairman Xu Dongsheng, China Digital Culture Group CEO Xu Dongqi, Shanghai KeaHoarl Group chairman Sun Bowen, Shanghai KeaHoarl Group general manager Ye Jingbo

With ACE (Association of Chinese E-Sports), the organization responsible for regulating cyber athletes in China, already set in place, a new visionary organization came to fruition a few days ago. The E-Sports base of KeaHoarl Group opened in Songjiang University Town last 22 March, with the ribbon cutting attended by a number of recognized individuals which includes the director of Shanghai Sports Bureau, Li Yuyi.

Also included in the ceremony were the chairman of China Digital Culture Group Xu Dongsheng and the CEO of China Digital Culture Group Xu Dongqi. At the E-Sports exchange conference held then, the parties had beneficial discussions on the direction and prospect of E-Sports development and agreed to further promote the e-Sports industry and its infrastructure. This development is particularly thrilling, as ACE had no governmental backing.

Among the prospects tackled were the teaching and training by famous players and club leaders to promote professionalism. They, together with ACE, are also going to create a player evaluation system for the kids who want to pursue e-Sports. These are far from the one-dimensional computer skills that an outsider would normally expect, and would actually include stamina, mental health, devotion to the profession, tactics and potential. These data are to be scaled and documented, and to be considered as a club's reference in selecting upcoming players.

KeoHaorl will be focusing on Dota 2, Hearthstone and League of Legends, but is aiming to cover the entirety of Chinese e-Sports.

While traditional parents would most likely still not prefer to see their kids on e-Sports, the perspective is changing bit by bit due to the government's positive attitude towards it. Seeing the rapid increase in popularity among its citizens and the world, China listed e-Sports as its 99th official sport back in 2003. A memorable occasion was when Li "Sky" Xiaofeng, a Warcraft III player, was among the many athletes chosen to be a Torch carrier back on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Chinese Administration of Sports also supported the National Electronic Sports Tournament (N.E.S.T.), a nationwide competition, last year.