LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 01: Echo Fox players Yuri Jew, Henrick Hansen and Terry Chuong, Echo Fox’s Rick Fox, and Echo Fox players Jeong-hun Park and David Roberson attend the TipTalk App Launch Party at a private residence on June 1, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TipTalk)
NEW YORK — Echo Fox, the esports organization led by ex-NBA player Rick Fox and former San Jose Sharks co-owner Stratton Sclavos, is providing its gamers with health and wellness programs that can be found in traditional sports.
The programs are overseen by former NBA player and executive Jared Jeffries, who became Echo Fox president earlier this month. And to get Echo Fox players fit physically and mentally, Sclavos implemented an arrangement with TriFit Club & Studios, a gym in Santa Monica close to the Echo Fox gaming house.
“You want to be the best place to work. We want to be the best place to play,” Sclavos said at the XLIVE Esports Summit. “And so we’re trying to create that organizational infrastructure that says, ‘You want to come play for Echo Fox because we have health and wellness.’ Our guys go to fitness classes, yoga classes, they understand why sleep is a very important part of how they’re going to perform. Yes, we test their reflexes and the rest. But we also monitor in a way that lets them understand that they are actually a professional athlete. They have not only the responsibility to the organization, they have the responsibility to themselves.”
At Echo Fox, there has been an emphasis on getting the proper rest as burnout has been an issue in esports. Sclavos said Echo Fox didn’t want its players practicing video games 18 hours a day, joking, “Sixteen is fine for us.” The point was that more needed to be done.
“When we told them to stop streaming, we told them to go to bed at a certain (time), they don’t understand that that’s good for them, that will increase the longevity of their careers,” Sclavos said.
“I don’t think they get it yet, but we’re going to try to be at least one of those organizations that shows that if you take care of yourself, your performance on the field is going to be better and longer than what you have.”
Added Fox: “In general, we’re all looking to evolve and be a better version of ourselves, right?”
That goes for athletes in traditional sports, and gamers in many organizations are learning that fitness helps them as well. According to Dot Esports, video game developer Riot Games had brought in TriFit years ago for fitness programs and weight loss contests.
“They felt like they gamed better, slept better, and felt better,” TriFit co-founder Gina Baski told the website. “If every other kind of athlete can be helped by diet, nutrition and sleep, then esports should be no different.”
