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Troup County has received a grant that will help a fledgling E-Sports program at the William J. Griggs Center.

“The Georgia Recreation Parks Association, in conjunction with Atlanta Hawks, had some grants that were given out and one of the small things on there was for E-Sports,” Parks and Recreation Director Lance Dennis said.

Dennis said Griggs Center Manager Devin Hardy sought funds from the program to support an E-Sports program he was starting at the rec center and Troup County was awarded $2,000.

The funds will be used to pay for more games and activities inside the center for the E-Sports Program, Dennis said. 

“E-Sports is growing throughout the country. All the high schools have teams that participate in them now. They actually have college scholarships for E-Sports now,” Dennis said. “I’ve got a gamer at my house, and they play video games. I would much rather them be outside doing stuff. But I can tell you, there’s a lot worse things these kids can be doing than in that center right there around good supervision, playing games.”

Hardy started the small E-Sports program in the lounge area to give kids another outlet to compete.

“E-Sports is competitive gaming. It allows kids to compete that may not make a basketball team or may not have the physical capabilities to compete another outlet or another way, to come into a facility and have fun and to compete on a level to where they can have fun,” Hardy said.

The center has PlayStation 5s and Nintendos in the lounge area to come in and play, Hardy said, saying they plan to use the funding for more games and to upgrade the equipment.

“We want to do tournaments as well, where kids come in from the age group from 12 to 17,” Hardy said. “A lot of kids in that age group, once they get middle school, they don’t make a basketball team or make a football team. They don’t have anything else to do. So this is another way to get the kids out of the house, to enter a safe environment, to be able to compete and still be in something organized.”

Harper said they plan to start on Feb. 22 with an organized event going every month with a different game.

“We want them to come to the center, to be a part of the community and get them out of the house to play the game. I think that’ll be better, for everyone, for the parents, for kids to be more socialized, to be in a safe environment and participate,” Hardy said.

Dennis said they only do sports games. There are no shooting games, no Grand Theft Auto or Fortnite. 

“We do the basic games that are certified by Georgia High School that they will participate in during games. Stuff like Madden, NBA 2k and Rocket League,” Dennis said.