The Duke of Edinburgh award now officially recognises esports as one its programmes. Known for being an extra-curricular way for young people to build skills, the award is often associated with seeing its participants completing physical activities or events that help develop strategic thinking, leadership, teamwork, and communication, with esports now being regarded as a way to achieve these feats.
For a DofE participant to use esports as a method of completing the award, the esport must take place through an adult-led group, for example a school club, and on top of this, participants must also engage in a variety of other activities, such as developing a new skill they believe in, and a physical challenge.
"Esports is one of the fastest growing activities in the UK and helps young people develop essential skills," said DofE CEO Ruth Marvel. "DofE has a proud history of evolving our programmes to reflect the changing interests and needs of young people, so I'm delighted that, following a successful pilot, we've added esports to the DofE Skills list."
To ensure that esports would successfully work as part of the DofE programme, a pilot has already been conducted which revealed that esports helps young people develop a range of helpful skills that suit the award.
"The BEA couldn't be more delighted that the DofE is now recognising value of esports," said Tom Dore, British Esports Association head of education. "Like all traditional sports, it teaches young people many life-enhancing skills. It can also lead to a whole host of exciting education and career opportunities, not just within the global esports industry, but also wider digital, creative and STEM based industries."
You can take a look at the how esports has been incorporated into the award in the announcement blog post here.
