Eagle Fitness Center Gaming Fest kicks off esports league

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Sonia Clark
  • 70th ISR Wing Public Affairs
FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. --  Esports has officially arrived at the 70 Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing’s Eagle Fitness Center. Through efforts from base esports ambassadors, and two key organizations, things culminated at the wing’s first esports festival, July 26, 2024.

With esports growing throughout the Air Force and Department of Defense, the EFC was focused on providing this program locally. According to AirForceGaming.com, over 86% of Airmen between the ages of 18-34 identify as gamers.

“[We are] always looking for innovative programs that we can bring to our Airmen,” said Ramona Park, Eagle Fitness Center fitness and sports director. “Somebody is not going to enjoy basketball, dodgeball, or volleyball. [We] wanted to be able to start our own esports league as another option for members to get involved with and compete.”

The event received sponsorship from the Air Force Gaming base support program. The AFG is the official gaming hub for the U.S. Air Force and has a year-long initiative created to grow global awareness and support of on-base events.

The organization’s goal is to empower esports ambassadors and the community to work with their local Force Support Squadron and put gaming events into action.

Park mentioned that Fort Meade’s esports ambassadors put the games together for the event and assisted with submitting AFG’s festival support application. The AFG’s support packages are determined in levels: silver, silver plus, gold, gold plus and platinum. The EFC received the gold package, which included AFG merchandise and signage, and loaned equipment to support the festival.

“This has been in the works for quite a while and we have a prime spot in our fitness center, which is a space where everyone in the NSA can access,” said Park. “It is the only basketball court on the NSA, so we felt very comfortable about being able to host this event on a wider scale. Once we got that package, it backed us up so that we could host a pretty large event.”

Additionally, the festival received support from the Civilian Welfare Fund through the NSA. CWF provides support for events and services to benefit government employees and their families.

The event was not exclusive to Air Force Members only. Fort Meade hosts a large community of military and civilian personnel from all services within the Department of Defense. The league was established to support all members of Team Meade with access to the EFC on the NSA campus.

“One of the things we were adamant about when we first started Fort Meade Gaming is that we are not going to make this Air Force only,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ryan Hwang, Air Force Gaming Fort Meade base ambassador. “It did not make sense because of how large the joint environment is here. We saw a lot more benefit in growing those joint relationships rather than disconnecting them or keeping them separate.”

During the festival, more than 100 gamers competed in Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, and more. This provided a different avenue for Fort Meade personnel to make connections, build resiliency, and enhance morale.

“We grew Fort Meade Gaming because the philosophy was gaming exists at every level, it is just creating a community that fosters it,” said Hwang. “Even when there is no community for it, people who like video games are still making those connections. Our involvement helps [bring them together and form] different connections.”

Park added “there is a large esports community on Fort Meade. They have been in the community for a while. So, they were super excited to see that we wanted to do something at NSA.”

The EFC hopes to conduct more gaming events such as the festival in the future. For more information about Fort Meade Gaming please visit https://linktr.ee/fortmeadegaming.