Legion, Regiment and Red Cross teaming for in-person gaming event in May
After two successful collaborations, The American Legion and Regiment Gaming will again team up later this spring, again breaking new ground in the process.
On May 28 in Gardena, Calif., Regiment Gaming’s new Veteran Gaming League (VGL) is staging its first event, a Halo Local Area Network (LAN) team tournament. Donations by American Legion National Headquarters and Ronald Reagan-Palisades Post 283 have provided a $10,000 prize pool, with $7,000 going to the first-place team. Registration for the May event is ongoing and can be done so here.
The Memorial Day Weekend event follows a Legion-Regiment online video game tournament last December that was viewed by more than 25,000 people. And in February, Minnesota American Legion service officer Jeremy Wolfsteller joined with Regiment Gaming VA Officer @Blackjack_DVC for more than an hour on Twitch for a Department of Veterans Affairs assistance workshop for military veterans and servicemembers.
“VGL’s goal is to regularly host online and in-person tournaments,” said Regiment Gaming CEO/founder Chris Earl. “As often as (The American Legion) is down to do these things, we want to do them. I think video games are a great way to target the younger demographic of veterans, and there’s a lot of potential in it.”
Post 283 Third Vice Commander Andre Andrews, a self-proclaimed gamer who coordinated his post’s involvement in the tournament, sees opportunity in teaming with Regiment and the gaming community.
“Since I’m a gamer, I really support the gaming community, and I understand what’s required from people like (The American Legion) to support the gaming community,” Andrews said. “In addition, it’s going to help the post grow. I’m a young leader at my post, and we need bodies to come in and help. I just want to see us grow.
“Something like this is going to help us get veterans across the country. There are a lot of veterans outside of major cities who game. This will be a way … it’s almost like a sonar. You send out a beacon and people start to respond.”
The tournament will consist of 16 teams; every team must have at least one veteran or current military member on its roster. Team passes are free, but non-military or non-veteran players and coaches must pay a $10 entry fee at the door.
A donation by the Red Cross has paid for the tournament venue, which is at Cyber City Esports, 1701 W. Redondo Beach Blvd., in Gardena. All participants must be at Cyber City Esports by 9:45 a.m. local time the day of the event.
“Veterans and technology and gaming – this all works,” Andrews said. “The American Legion, in general, needs veterans for tomorrow. Period. Without things like this, we’re not going to be able to attract the new version of us. People getting out (of the military) have a new mentality. Imagine how people in these small areas who would be willing to go to local American Legion posts if they had (game) consoles just to go game, be a part of some league in the Legion, (and) competing against each other or the posts competing against each other.”