PH Esports to increase with new national sports association

Published 15h44, 25 July 2018

Last updated 15:44, 25 July 2018 [19659004] CORNERSTONE. (from left to right) Chot Reyes, President and CEO of TV5, Richard Brojan, Tournament Organizer, and Ren Vitug, Secretary General of ESNAP, unveil the country's first esports franchise. Picture from PUBLICITY ASIA ” data-parentid=””/>

CORNERSTONE. (from left to right) Chot Reyes, President and CEO of TV5, Richard Brojan, Tournament Organizer, and Ren Vitug, Secretary General of ESNAP, unveil the country's first esports franchise. Photo by PUBLICITY ASIA

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is hoping to climb the global wave of esports with a new National Sports Association (NSA), as well as a pioneering national league, which is set to take place in 2019. [19659006] Esports National The Association of the Philippines (ESNAP) was created to promote the growth of esports in the country starting with the recruitment of members of the inaugural national league team.

"W e did not expect it to be so important fast because a few years ago we had tournaments with some players playing in cybercafés for a few thousand of pesos, "recalls ESNAP General Secretary Ren Vitug.

" Now we have events that fill stages, millions in play, and we're going to make it a game in the Asian Games this year. "

Philippine Olympic Committee Chairman Ricky Vargas also supported the creation of a new NSA, noting that esports can be included in the event. 39, organizing the Games of Southeast Asia next year.Vargas said that ESNAP just needs to complete the application process for new sports associations. [19659006] " I hope that if we are able to NSA, it can be well prepared and all that, so we can send the Philippines (to international competitions), so we should consider the esports in the Games of Southeast Asia, "said Vargas.

Esports is on the 2018 Asian Games demonstration list in Jakarta. The Philippines will be represented by Bren Esports in the Arena of Valor tournament.

"As it is a demonstration sport, they only have a certain number of teams: we did not Qualified for the League of Legends, for Ultimate Football, but we have a team for Arena of Valor, is Bren Esports, "said Vitug.

ESPN 5 launched the search for professional esports athletes in the Philippines through the Road to Nationals, a set of qualifiers for the national league. The Nationals will be the first model franchise league of esports in the country.

Six teams – the TNC Pro team, HappyFeet eSports, BrenPro Inc., Cignal TV Inc., PLDT / Smart Communications and STI Education Systems – have committed themselves to be the founding teams of The Nationals. The league hopes to add two more groups to complete the 8-team format of the competition.

The league will propose PC Game DOTA2, Mobile Legends, but it is also planned to make NBA 2K19 or Tekken 7 console game.

"The road to the DOTA2 national championships, mobile legends and console game tournaments are all part of our NSA's desire to develop esports in the Philippines," said Joebert Yu, president of the US. eSNAP. – Rappler.com