On Saturday July 16th, the ANIS non-profit organization is organizing the SXM E-Sport Festival, the first e-sport competition in Saint-Martin. A competitive and family event that is particularly determined to unite people around the practice of video games.
Since 2018, the ANIS Saint-Martin organization has been committed to digital inclusion and training in digital professions throughout the organization of activities linked to gaming and computer science. Its main goal is to especially federate female and male game lovers by participating in the creation of e-sport clubs, that one can consider as video gaming at a competitive level.
This year, the organization is fulfilling its most cherished vow: to set up a local championship meeting international standards. From July 1st to July 3rd, the Caribbean Games 2022 gathered 29 Caribbean Olympic committees in Guadeloupe. Saint-Martin's team, the Soualiga Warriors, was there in the e-sport category for the Giga'Games Canoc E-Sport Series. Now, Saint-Martin is organizing its own event. The SXM E-Sport Festival will take place on Saturday July 16th in the Vanterpool Stadium’s Sports Hall, in Marigot, in collaboration with the e-sport GIGA GAMES Federation Guadeloupe, VP Zone Caraïbe of the WESCO World Esport Consortium and the Collectivité of Saint-Martin. During the whole day, amateurs will be able to fight in lots of video games such as Tekken (martial arts), Grand Turismo 7 (car racing), Just Dance (dance), NBA 2K (basketball), WindJammers (frisbee) or Fifa22 (soccer). In parallel, free activities will be offered: Mario Kart live, Just Dance, virtual reality, engaging educational booths, Minecraft, Beat Saber… The organization wants to offer "a festival oriented as much towards families and the general public as towards the regulars", Farid Ichene explains, president of ANIS Saint-Martin. "The idea is to offer a very friendly and social event allowing youngsters and elders to form bonds around video games”. The idea being also to restore the image of video games, “looked down upon nowadays in light of their violent and isolating connotations”.
The ANIS event and action is actually part of a broader context of fight against school dropout. In partnership with the Fusion Jeunesse NGO, the organization has set up as its goal to re-engage dropout students coming from St. Martin’s priority neighborhoods by offering them, as of September, video game development, robotics and artificial intelligenceworkshops.
THE NUMBERS
Contrary to popular beliefs, the average age of regular players is between 30 and 40 years old in France. 95% of the players have at least one diploma, and 37% at least a 3-year-university diploma. In the USA, a study revealed that 64% of Americans regularly play video games.
SXM E-Sport Festival
Saturday July 16th, from 9am to 5pm
Halle des Sports, Vanterpool Stadium, Marigot
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