I became the manager of a top North American clan in Critical Ops, but now what?

It became my mission to help the clan in whichever way that I can.. just like any manager would for their team. How can I help them? This is a question that I would often ask myself.

Then I came to a realization that IFL is a top tier North American team without an esports organization. It is normal for most clans to not be funded by anyone and be primarily ran by players themselves. Everyone has to work together and do their responsibilities in order to keep everything in order.

In contrast to IFL, some clans in the game were picked up by an esports organization. This creates a huge gap between clans ran completely by players and the clans that were with an organization. How?

The answer is fairly simple.. money! Esports organizations are usually sponsored or partnered with multiple brands and they are able to financially invest in teams by paying players monthly and providing them products from their sponsorships or partnerships. Think of it like famous celebrities or youtubers/streamers that do advertisements or review products for free.

Teams that play under organizations are able to receive the latest gaming system and peripherals meaning that they are provided the most recent iPads, headsets and more. Meanwhile, clans without an organization are forced to play with whatever devices they can afford on their own. Half of our competitive players in IFL were playing with old versions of the iPad or only had their phones.

Of course, newer devices allow you to play better overall because it is more compatible with the requirements of the game while old iPads get more outdated. Another way of thinking it can be an ice skater that competes in competitions, but has super old ice skates and cannot replace it due to financial reasons.

Regardless,  IFL has been climbing the leaderboards for over 2 years and come close to beating the #1 North American team each tournament. We were ranked #2 overall in the game… so it didn’t really make sense to me that almost every other top tier clan in Critical Ops was getting picked up by an esports organization except IFL. Were we not good enough?

Although this is about gaming, this situation can be applied to real-life situations as well. You can literally be a top performing student in school, yet not receive enough scholarships to pay for your entire tuition. Or you can be extremely good at a certain hobby you have, but lack support. This would naturally make us question if maybe we’re not good enough or we are doing things the wrong way.

Even though we knew the difficulty of being picked up by an esports organization, we decided to keep our eyes open and our hopes up. After months passed by of speaking to different potential organizations and trying to reach a good compromise, we finally found the right esports organization. Hammers Esports.

Being picked up Hammers Esports, our competitive team in IFL was provided the latest iPads and gaming headsets, so they are able to perform better and at their most potential when it came to tournaments. The players are also being compensated for their time everyday to practice.

Getting paid to play a game and free stuff? Now that’s livin’ the good life!

Whether you are in a clan without an organization, a top student without scholarships or a person that does not receive support or recognition when it comes their passion or hobbies, don’t give up!

It took time for us to find the right esports organization, so sometimes it just really takes time to find the right opportunity and support system.

Just because the right opportunity or support system does not come right away, this does not mean that you are not good enough nor doing something wrong. In fact, keep doing what you do because that will only bring you a step closer.

As long as you keep working hard and doing what you love, time will reward you with opportunities and help you move forward.

Once that door opens up, seize that chance!

Thank you for reading this chapter of my gaming journey! See you in my next one!