Often associated with the glitz and glam of the youth, esports often go unheard among veterans, particularly the elderly individuals. A recent performance from a ‘veteran’ squad in Taiwan, however, had the entire esports spectators dumbfounded, given that it was comprised of a group of elderly adults who still play competitive video games.
An elderly esports squad competed in a League of Legends event at Taichung’s Hungkuang University, Taiwan, which was held on December 17th. Huang Jianji, the director of the university’s department of multimedia game creation and application, was the brain behind the team.
Chiang Yi-shu, a 65-year-old woman, was a notable participant in the competition. Chiang is a part of the newly created Hungkuang Evergreen Gaming team. The other members of the team range in age from 62 to 69.
Chiang Yi-Shu acknowledged that she never considered learning to use a computer since she prefers face-to-face interaction. Nonetheless, she discovered that it was beneficial to the brain and notably the use of one’s hands, as dexterity is required.
Chiang has been training at home and at university when she has the opportunity. According to her coach, Ego Hsu, she plays roughly five hours each week.
Despite living in New Taipei City, she commuted to the university in Taichung, an hour away by high-speed rail, for the competition training session every week.
Age is, definitely, just a number
Prior to this tournament, there was a LoL competition at Grandesports Championship in 2021, which was organised by Hondao Senior Citizen’s Welfare Foundation, where players aged 65 and up competed in the tournament.
Hondao Senior Citizen’s Welfare Foundation was founded on March 3, 1995 in Taiwan. Since then, his foundation has organized a plethora of activities for the elderly.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Sweden, there are competitive CS GO team named Silver Snipers which comprised of elderly people who love playing first person shooter games.
Their hard work did pay off in summer of 2019 after they won the Seniors World Cup against Finland, Germany, and USA at DreamHack Summer 2019, beating Grey Gunners in the finals.
Speaking of USA, a video game grandma named Shirley Curry is widely known for her Skyrim gameplay videos. An unexpected title given that Skyrim is a game that is difficult even for experienced players.
Nevertheless, the 86-year-old woman claimed that it was one of her favorite RPG title. She even expressed the hope to play the long-awaited sequel, The Elder Scrolls 6, before she breathe her last breath.
