In the last few decades, e-sports has managed to stand out and come out of the shadow of traditional sports. It has become a global phenomenon that attracts the attention of millions of people around the world. Thanks to its ever-increasing popularity, eSports has become more than just entertainment. This serious industry generates billions of dollars, attracts sponsors, creates professional players and events on a global scale. In this context, the topic of the development of e-sports in Montenegro and the region is becoming increasingly important, at the same time presenting the challenges and perspectives that lie ahead.
This will be the topic of the panel discussion on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education on the occasion of marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the University of Montenegro. He will speak at the panel discussion Filip Šoć, president of the Electronic Sports Association of Montenegro, then Mia Kraljević-Ćalasan, director of NGO 4 Future, prof. Ph.D Stevo Popovic, professor at the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education of the University of Montenegro, i Ilija Stojović, manager for organizing fair performances and events in the Bar Tourism Organization.
This panel aims to explain the current challenges and highlight the development perspectives of electronic sports and their impact on traditional sports, public health and tourism, and its initiator, prof. Dr. Stevo Popović" speaks for "Vijesti" on this topic...
You have decided to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the University of Montenegro with a panel on e-sports. Given that it is the fastest growing industry, how important is it to talk about this topic as much as possible at universities?
Given that the University of Montenegro, "the cornerstone of higher education, science and cultural and artistic creativity in Montenegro, the largest academic institution and the only state university", celebrates its 50th anniversary, work and development, throughout the entire calendar year, every from the organizational units assumed the obligation to mark the jubilee in a certain way, and the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education wanted to send a message to the Montenegrin public by organizing a panel on the topic "Development of electronic sports in Montenegro and the region - challenges and perspectives" current in scientific research work and open to cooperation with all subjects of the sports industry. As electronic sports strongly aspires to take a serious position in the Olympic family, on the one hand, and the electronic sports industry is growing exponentially day by day, on the other hand, it is very important that the discussion be opened as soon as possible on the issue of the development of electronic sports and on the academic level level, especially for the reason that different challenges appear every day in all its interdisciplinary segments such as public health, tourism, gender equality and others.
Montenegro has been participating in e-sport competitions for years, and its development is expanding in our country. How do you see the development of electronic sports in Montenegro and the region, what are the challenges it faces?
I'm not sure that the developments in electronic sports in Montenegro, and in the region, are presented to the general public in the best way, especially the development perspectives, but also the challenges faced by actors in the electronic sports industry. For this reason, it is very important to organize these kinds of discussions in front of the wider public, where all actors in this fast-growing industry and, especially university professors, will participate, so that the entire society will become familiar with issues of importance, not only for direct participants of electronic sports, but also for the entire society. For example, one of the biggest public health problems, physical inactivity is extremely present among electronic athletes, conclusions from scientific studies indicate a dominant sedentary lifestyle, even up to 11 hours a day on average, which in addition to the fact that this population is growing very quickly, leads to the conclusion that it is not only a problem of one social group. On the other hand, the tourist offer can be drastically enriched by the offer that comes from the field of electronic sports, so it is very important that the general public is aware of the fact that investing in the development of electronic sports can, at the same time, lead to the development of society in general, which will to be the topic of the upcoming panel.
At the end of last year, the Federation of Electronic Sports signed a memorandum of cooperation with the American organization for e-sports education - NASEF, and it is expected that there will be more talk about the same through the school program in the coming years. Have you thought about perhaps introducing at least one subject related to e-sports at the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education?
If we look back at the roots of our scientific field, it is related to physical education and, exclusively, a pedagogical approach to sports. However, with the development of the sports industry, in the second half of the last century, sports sciences occupied a much larger area where they operated. Namely, with the growth of the sports industry, various challenges arose, there was a need for professional staff who would solve the specific problems that the new industry encountered, and this is where the university found its place, specializing its staff to solve newly emerging issues and educate staff. for which there was a need on the labor market. The result of the timely reaction was reflected in the fact that at one point the fastest growing study program in the USA was the program of basic studies in sports management. Although we are still encountering various resistances, I believe that history repeats itself, and that it is very important that we feel the right moment and position our university among the leading higher education institutions in the world in this field. So my answer to your question is "yes", we intend to, although the procedures are very complicated, but this fact will not discourage us from acting in that direction.
The current world champions in CS:GO (that's what it was called when they won, now it's CS2) are the Swedes. In addition to the training regimen, they also have sports training, a special way of eating... How important is it to take care of health? Can e-sport have a bad effect on the perception of physical activity and sports culture?
I am not surprised by the fact that precisely those who introduced a part containing physical activity into their regular training were successful. The answer is very simple, it is a scientific fact that adequate physical activity can also improve the performance of electronic athletes, which I personally got to know during the realization of a scientific project that was financed within the program scheme "Western Balkan Fund - Move" at the University of Novi Sad. Apparently, the Swedes applied the above-mentioned scientific knowledge in practice and, by doing so, made a success. On the other hand, the fact is that the emergence of new technologies is highly correlated with the decline in health status throughout the world, and projections that by 2035, more than half of the world's population will be obese, are a serious warning. However, I personally think that we are not able to slow down the growth of new technologies, but that we have to adapt to it. Electronic sports can be, as traditional sports used to be, an excellent tool for raising the health status of the entire population. If electronic athletes understand the aforementioned necessity for regular physical activity, I believe that electronic sports will be the main engine for the promotion of physical activity in the "electronic age".
E-sport and how it can contribute to the socialization of young people and community building. Can it be integrated into existing physical education programs?
Personally, I am a supporter that every newspaper must be taken into serious consideration, even if it does not look tempting at first glance. Even though I am in my mature years, when people strive for change less and less, I do not forget that the social community is a changeable creation and that during the evolution of the human species it has constantly changed. Sometimes faster and sometimes slower, but the fact is that changes always came sooner or later. Accordingly, it may be too early to talk about the inclusion of a subject dealing with electronic sports in the curriculum, but the very fact that you are asking me this question, as well as the fact that the National Federation for Electronic Sports has become part of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, and that entered the premises of the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education, why not, I believe that in the future this topic will be discussed much more concretely. However, in the transition period, it is realistic to expect that different hybrid models will appear, which will be reflected in the combination of traditional and electronic sports. In the end, it should be determined what is the most useful for children and young people, and make the right decision based on a serious analysis, because every newspaper carries with it both positive and negative effects.
Many countries have already recognized e-sports as a sport. How important is it that we do it as soon as possible?
Before I tell you my position on this issue, I would like to point out that, every year, I try to answer the question of what sport is with my master's students! It would be a pleasure if you had the opportunity to hear their answers after the lecture. At the beginning of the lecture, everyone is very confident that it is not difficult to define sport; however, not long after, we all very easily agree that it is not an easy job at all. The classification of electronic sports will certainly make that job more difficult for us, as chess has done for many years. However, my personal opinion is that electronic sports should be classified as a sport and, as soon as possible, be allowed to enjoy all the rights like any other sport. I would like to explain my position by the fact that the number of participants in electronic sports is growing very quickly, from year to year, and that it is very important to introduce the mentioned population into an organized system, because only in this way will we be able to take care of the challenges that society faces. encounters within and outside electronic sports.
Bonus video:
