despite the Covid, the Chamois Niortais faced Caen … on FIFA
No Caen / Niort match on the lawn this Saturday, January 8, 2022 because of Covid, but an online meeting on FIFA. A player from the Chamois Niortais e-sport team faced the community manager of SM Caen. Behind the virtual team of Chamois, hides the association of Dragons Niortais which continues its rise in the world of e-sport.
Postponed due to Covid, the Ligue 2 meeting between Niort and Caen on Saturday January 8 did indeed take place… On the internet. An initiative launched by the communication manager of Chamois Niortais FC, Pierre Bazireau. “Spontaneously, I tweeted at match time, calling out to SM Caen”, he says. “I wanted to fill the void of this Saturday night without a match, and decompress this situation with the Covid.”
Neither one nor two, the Stade Malherbe Caen then offered a match on FIFA 22, a football simulation game on Playstation. It’s Anthony Delaye, aka AnthoFIFA, who discovers the Chamois Niortais. Semi-professional, he dominated the match. Final score: 3-1 for the Chamois. “I had to win in this unexpected game, I had no choice!”, he laughs. Because in the comments of the stream and on Twitter, the supporters were few, about fifty on average, but very motivated to defend the colors of their respective teams.
“It’s a way to show that it’s not just football in stadiums that brings people together, but also football that is developing in e-sport”, explains Anthony Delaye, aka AnthoFIFA. “It’s not just a game, it’s real competition.”
For the past year, Anthony Delaye has been one of the 11 incumbents of the Chamois Niortais professional e-sport club. With his teammates, he trains 4 times a week from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., using a screen. And it pays off. After the Ligue 1 title, organized by Virtual Pro Gaming France, the team won the Coupe de France on December 22.
The professional club is under the leadership of the association “Les Dragons Niortais”. Created in June 2018, it has 150 members. From Deux-Sèvres to Martinique, Belgium or Switzerland, players of all levels are welcome. “Some don’t want to compete, just have fun and share their passion”, explains President Stévie Fageon.
To professionalize, the association can count on its sponsors. She has just signed a new partnership with the Boulanger company. “The brand becomes our main sponsor and will appear on our jerseys”, pursuit of the president of the Niortais Dragons. In exchange, the company finances the opening of a room, a play house, and provide them with 42,000 euros in equipment.
The play house will allow players to install their equipment and welcome the public. Conferences will be organized there. Ultimately, it should create between two and four jobs. The association hopes for an opening by March-April 2022.
Another possibility with this partnership: awareness and prevention around video games in schools. The objective is to fight against the addiction in which some young people fall, but also against the received ideas on e-sport.
Many young people want to work in esports and become a professional player. In reality, only 0.1% of gamers live, and the average retirement age is 24.
Stévie Fageon, President of the Niortais Dragons
“Many young people want to work in esports and become a professional player”, notes Stévie Fageon. “In reality, there are only 0.1% of players who live, and the average retirement age is 24 years. The goal is to explain to them that there are plenty of other professions. . “
Developer, community manager or e-sport journalist: the association hopes to awaken vocations and make these young people want to study in schools near Niort. “We are working with a digital school in the region to create a branch specializing in e-sport”, he reveals.
Thanks to their rise, the Niortais Dragons have succeeded in placing Niort on the map of international e-sport. “A lot of e-sports clubs completely erase their geographic attachment in their name”, regrets Stévie Fageon. “However, we should not be ashamed of it. Our goal is to make Niort shine in e-sport, and to open even more doors with the town hall, and with local sports clubs.”
The two-Sevrian association is not only present on FIFA: there is Fortnite and the classic Mario Kart. She also has a top team on the fighting game Dragon Ball FighterZ. On December 4, 2021, three of his new licensees won the European championships in this game. The player Yasha one won the title of European champion, Jila a third completed. And Wade, fifth. The association is also looking to set up a team that will wear its colors on Counter-Strike Go in 2022. The Niort e-sport has a bright future ahead of it.