Are Esports Sports?

The debate has raged on for years now about the idea of esports being synonymous with traditional sports, but is this a debate we even need to have? I owe who I am today to playing sports when I was younger. I know that without participating in Powerchair Football (Powersoccer), I likely would have become depressed and isolated in a world that was far too scary for a kid with a physical disability. Now that I’m an adult, I could say the same about esports. My friends and opportunities have been directly linked to my passion for esports as of late, and I find it to be an irreplaceable part of who I am now. With that said, I’d like to talk about some of the arguments that we see in the debate about sports and esports.

Firstly the Oxford Dictionary defines a sport as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” This is the root of the argument around the silly idea that sports have to be about physical attributes like strength or agility. I don’t see it say anywhere that you have to play outdoors or be physically fit. The two determining factors are “physical exertion” and “skill,” but what is “physical exertion”? Oxford Dictionary defines physical as “relating to the body as opposed to the mind” and exertion as “physical or mental effort.” In other words, you’re using your body and putting an effort into what you’re doing. I suppose that it’s a bit implied that you should feel tired after performing this activity since you’re putting a great deal of effort into it. With that said, esports definitely falls within this definition because of the physical energy necessary to have high APMs at a competitive level. It may be less physical than football or hockey but that isn’t what defines a sport. If level of physicality was the determining factor of what is a sport then the sport that changed my life, Powerchair Football, isn’t a sport by those standards.

The next argument that really bothers me is the notion of an esports athletes being “nerds.” I’m sure most that say this don’t really mean it like this, but this type of discrimination is no different than being sexist or racist. We live in a world where our social culture is changing constantly, and as such, we always have subgroups that feel the brunt of discrimination and persecution. In our day and age, we’ve tried to change our ways and huge steps forward have been made with regards to equality, but we still aren’t there yet. Even our greatest global event, the Olympics, has been surrounded by controversy about Russia’s laws towards gays and lesbians. This type of global dilemma is no different than esports being shunned because it’s a bunch of “nerds.” Everytime I hear this comment made it outrages me because it reminds me that we still live in a world where women are considered inferior and people with disabilities are invalids. The fact that people don’t take the time to learn and understand one another is the reason that when I go outside in public people stare. It’s the fact that the glass ceiling for women still exists, and it’s the fact that esports is ridiculed by mainstream personality.

With those pet peeves of mine aside, I’d like to tell you my definition of what a sport is and how esports fits into my definition.

Sport: an activity involving physical or mental exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

I added two words to act as clarification, but those two words are so incredibly powerful. By allowing for the competition to occur on a mental level then we’re removing the shackles that lead to discrimination and inequality. The notion of sports should be more aligned with the ideals of the Olympic movement which states:

The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play (http://www.olympic.org/Documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf).

Sports are about friendship, community, fairplay, and equality. They are not about who can kick the hardests or throw the furthest. Those activities come secondary to the spirit of competition and sportsmanship, which esports has in spades.

Adaptive Solutions for Disabled Gamers Playing League of Legends

Since I started streaming last year, I've been approached for help from a number of disabled gamers who want to find better ways to play the games they love. I typically say that I'm not really sure what the best solution for them is since everyone is unique, but I always suggest working with their Occupational Therapist to find a system that works for their unique needs. While this is the honest truth, I decided to try and provide a comprehensive write-up on the types of adaptive technology that I've tried or looked into. The following information is purely based on my opinion and information I've found through my research. Additionally, I've found that every game will need a slightly different solution, and the in game settings (keybinds) can be very useful for finding new ways to play a game. My recommendations are based on playing League of Legends since every game may require a very different use of these adaptive solutions.


Head Mouse

Example: http://www.orin.com/access/headmouse/

I've used this type of mouse with my laptop years ago, and I didn't really enjoy it at all. It was hard to have good accuracy and precision, and to do mouse clicks you have to hold the mouse still for a few seconds. I believe you could have external switches mounted to do the mouse clicks, which would make this a decent way of using a mouse for gaming that doesn't need exact precision. This type of mouse usage could be very competitive if a solution for mouse clicking was figured out (likely via switches). Personally, it wouldn't work for me, but I can see it working perfectly fine for others.

Recommended.


Eye Tracking

Example: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/26897/TrackEye-Real-Time-Tracking-Of-Human-Eyes-Using-a

I have very little knowledge in this area, but from what I've read, the technology isn't reliable enough for fast-paced gaming. I'd only advise this for someone playing a slower, more casual game.

Not Recommended.


Electroencephalography Technology

Example: http://www.emotiv.com/

This technology is our future, but for playing real games, it isn't ready yet. The setup to use the hardware is extensive, and it isn't reliable enough. My sources have told me that it would be like playing with 300-500 ping because of the input delay. I've seen this technology work decently in games where the behaviour of the game is somewhat predictable (i.e. WoW PvE content or single player RPGs), but it would not work very well in games where you face other players because of the input delay.

Not Recommended


Voice Recognition

Example: http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm

I've used this technology since it started becoming mainstream years ago, and it has improved a lot since then. Despite the improvements, this technology isn't nearly good enough for any kind of fast paced competitive gaming. Additionally, to make custom voice macros you NEED the Professional version, which has a hefty price tag. I would still recommend it as a compliment to other adaptive solutions because it could easily handle some less critical/time sensitive commands in a game like League of Legends (ward placing).

Worth Trying.


Trackball or Touchpad Mice

Examples: http://www.logitech.com/en-ca/mice-pointers/trackballs and http://www.ergonomictouchpad.com/

Both these are perfect good alternatives to using a mouse that don't suffer from input lag like the above methods. Whether you want to use these depends on your own personal capabilities and how well you can get them mounted/positioned for you. Your occupational therapist can/will help with this type of device since they are quite standard adaptive solutions.

Recommended.


External Switches

Example: http://xkeys.com/xkeys/xkswi.php

These are great if you have some movement in your hands, arms, legs, or feet. There are a wide array of switches that vary in size and sensitivity, but this option can be pricey if you need a lot of switches. My current setup revolves around using switches mounted by my foot and elbow to use abilities in League of Legends, so I'm very fond of these.

Highly Recommended


Best Combination for Adaptive Solutions?

I can't answer that because everyone is different, but I would recommend trying as much as possible, until you find the right fit. I know my own physical limits and ability so well that I found a very good solution for me, but I'm always looking to improve it. For instance, I started playing League with voice recognition software, but I couldn't handle the input delay, so I researched and found the external switches for macro'ing my abilities to. The key is to think outside the box and then see if it exists by googling your idea. 9 times out of 10, someone else had your idea and made it a reality.



I appreciate any comments or input on adaptive solutions that I may have missed. I've tried so much over the years that I'm likely missing a few.

Esports and Equality: Gamers giving the world a real lesson in how to behave

In a world still filled with injustices and inequalities, I believe that, like traditional sports, esports bridges the barriers of race, sex and physical abilities that still plague the world. I realize that this is quite a bold statement to make given the behaviour of an average internet user can be quite unpleasant, but I believe that esports is heading in the right direction to help improve online communities. The basis of my opinion is centered primarily in two events, my online fundraising and a Las Vegas trip, that I've been involved in.

Last year, a few friends of mine made comments about how it would be cool for people to see how I play because of how unique it is. They were of the opinion that I could get quite a lot of viewers if I did it, and so, I decided that I would try it out. I decided that instead of streaming for myself, I would try to do an online fundraiser to help Muscular Dystrophy Canada provide support for kids and adults who have neuromuscular conditions. Additionally, I wanted to raise awareness for disabled gamers since I knew quite a few. While I knew this fundraiser was going to be successful no matter what, I was astonished by the publicity and support I received from the online communities. In fact, a number of big named professional players from many games promoted my stream, and in part, it was so successful thanks to the support from the esports community. The second event that helps form my opinion is from meeting people involved in esports.

Thanks to my fundraising and streaming, I've been able to meet a number of awesome gamers, and my recent trip to Las Vegas, firmly instilled my faith in esports as a tool for bringing people together. I went to Las Vegas for IPL6, but unfortunately, the event was cancelled. Due to a number of factors, I decided that I would still go on the trip and enjoy myself. A big part of my trip was getting to meet and hang with Optimus Tom, MissTeak, and Glyceroll. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I met up with them because as a guy with a disability, I've seen people reaction or handle it quite differently. Most people at first are a bit careful and stand off-ish till they get used to the wheelchair and such, but this wasn't the case when I met up with these 3. Honestly, I was shocked by how normal they acted around me from the very start. Typically, a person is only this comfortable from the start if they have prior experience with wheelchairs and such, so I was pleasantly surprised. To be quite honest, their acceptance and understanding is what made the weekend just that much more enjoyable. This kind of reaction is exactly the kind of bridging barriers that I'm talking about, and I believe that esports is a huge part of why this is possible.

The 7 Habits of a Highly Effective League of Legends Player Part 1

I'm going to be writing a new series that I've entitled The 7 Habits of a Highly Effective League of Legends Player. The inspiration for this piece is Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The aim of this series is to help enable and empower the reader to take charge of their League of Legends career and become successful. This could apply to raising ELO, reduce raging, and increase enjoyment while playing. I cannot guarantee that you’ll reach Diamond or Platinum from reading this since the focus is behavioural and not so much mechanical skill, and you need both to reach high ELO. However, I guarantee that if you take these habits to heart, you'll enjoy your time spent on League of Legends a lot more than you currently do.


Habit #1 – “Be Proactive”


The first habit has a lot to do with looking at what shapes who you on. In League of Legends, we are shaped by our experience, and ELO. As an inexperienced player you are treated as if you don't know the game as well as someone who has played since beta, and as such, you will perform in a manner that you're expected to. ELO influences us in a similar way, and with the addition of borders for S2 standings, a player will likely under perform if they are on a team with all Platinum players when they only reached Gold last season. The Gold player may have worked hard to improve and may be just as good as the Platinum players now, but because they're expected to do worse, they will do worse in most cases. These two factors are external determinations that are used to gauge our aptitude to perform, but the fact that they are external shows that they don't have to dictate how we perform.


The basis of human intelligence is the idea that we can decide our responses to stimuli. In the case of League of Legends, the stimuli are our experience and our ELO (the perception our team/enemy has of us). As humans, we have the choice to play as we are expected or play how we know that we can play. The difficulty is applying this principle, and this is where the first habit comes into play.


The idea of habit #1 is to switch from being a reactive person to being proactive. To do this, you need to take the initiative. You can't wait for others to judge your skill based on your experience or ELO, but instead, you need to make the first move. In the context of a League of Legends match, you can do this in a number of ways such as:

• Speak up in champion select and be cooperative
• Get first blood (don’t give first blood)
• Win your lane
• Make plays early on
• Play safe (ward/ping/call mia)

There are numerous ways of taking the initiative, but the idea is to set a precedent yourself rather than letting other factors set it for you. A fine example of this would be my life. I've faced stereotypes and expectations that others have placed upon me, but they've never dictated my success. Since I started streaming and putting myself out there online, I've heard a lot of people saying things like, “He's good for how he plays.” They see my limitations and put the expectation of my capability on me, but I choose to ignore such comments because I know I can do better. I know I can and will improve. My ELO may be at 1k now, but my understanding of competitive play and the game far exceeds that (at least in my opinion). My limiting factor is not my physical capabilities as people like to think, but it is the fact that I'm still finding the best way of playing for me. I don't play or limit myself by the expectations of others, but rather, I try to prove them wrong by taking the initiative and improving myself whenever possible.


The essence of being proactive is considering what is in your power to influence or change (your cs'ing skill, your behaviour, your map awareness, etc) and separating it from things you can't control (teammate's attitude, teammate's performance, enemy's skill, etc). The idea is that you should focus on things that you can control instead of getting stuck on the areas that you cannot control. An example of this would be playing top lane and getting ganked a lot. You can control this by warding and improving your map awareness. Alternatively, you have no control over your teammate rage quitting after they die in lane, so you shouldn't focus your energy on this matter. Not only will this help you improve your gameplay, but you'll enjoy yourself far more if you don't get upset over things that you cannot control.

The Barriers of Esports

I've been following Esport for years now, and it has been grown exponentially in the last year due to the growth of online streaming sites like Twitch TV and Own3d TV, and the large investment of capital from game companies like Riot Games. Despite the growth, I've noticed a few barriers for the current esport games and future ones.


Scope Creep


The first issue I noticed with the development of an esport for various online games is the concept of Scope Creep. Scope Creep is a term used by project managers that basically says that the project's scope has slowly grown too large. Essentially, the project evolves past what the company can manage to develop without compromising the quality of the product/service.

This is seen a lot in the gaming industry because advancements in technology are becoming so rapid and competitive that every new game needs to innovate to succeed. This is difficult for gaming producers and publishers because they have a market scope that is quite large. For example, MMORPGs are divided into a wide variety of segments such as casual, elitist, pve, pvp, etc. While games like World of Warcraft have been successful for years in targeting multiple segments, they fell short in the esport domain (competitive pvp) because they were restricted by the other market segment's demands. This is generally seen by the issues with balancing pve dps and pvp dps for games in the MMORPG genre.

The problem of Scope Creep isn’t isolated to the MMORPG genre. Developers of most games are trying to be the jack-of-all-trades instead of mastering one. What does this have to do with esports? Well, if there are no developers who wish to be the masters of competitive pvp then the games we use to showcase the esports scene will always be somewhat lackluster. Since I primarily play League of Legends and its growth in the esports scene has been incredible, I’ll be looking at the concept of Scope Creep as it applies to League of Legends.

Riot Games, the creators of League of Legends, has a philosophy that pushes them to the goal of being “the most player-focused game company in the world” (http://www.riotgames.com/about). While I absolutely love this goal, I can’t help but notice the difficulty in accomplishing such it since every player will want something different. Riot has chosen to focus on a few primary areas to achieve this goal such as esports, customer service, steady champion updates, steady gameplay balancing, improving player behavior, and quality of life improvements. With all of these focal points in mind, is Riot falling into the Scope Creep pitfall? I’d like to argue that they have found a good balance with the exception of one area. The area I’m thinking of is in fact esports. I know what you’re all thinking, “But Keith, they’ve had a record breaking year with regards to esports success!” You’d be right in thinking this, but I’m looking towards the future. I’m thinking of the longevity of the game and esports as a whole.

Let’s take a step back and consider traditional sports for a moment. Most sports you watch on television have been around for eons, and their gameplay has become very standardized in comparison to most esports who have new patches that can change the game dynamic drastically. This change in gameplay leads to a volatile environment for the professional scene that some would argue keeps it exciting. I would agree but that’s because I keep up with the changes. At the current rate of change I believe that if I were to stop following the game for a few months, it would be very difficult to start watching again and enjoy it to the same extent as I do now. I realize that my argument here is very biased, but let me try to give a better analogy. It’s 5-10 years from now, and I’ve drifted away from watching League of Legends tournaments, but my nephew is at the age where he’s starting to get interested in it. If we were watching hockey or football together, I could explain the game to him, despite me rarely following the games, but I wouldn’t be able to properly explain an esports game because of the constant changes shifting the meta. This is where Scope Creep comes in. Riot wants to please its playerbase by continually changing/adding to the game, but this undermines their goals of longevity and growth in esports. In fact, I would argue that this is an issue every potential esport game faces.

Am I suggesting that esports and League of Legends is destined to fail?

This is far from my point. I’d wager that sports like hockey and football started out just as volatile as esports are now. My point is simply that as players we can’t have everything. If we want League of Legends to become a permanent sport and not just a fad then Riot Games may want to focus their scope and standardize the game after they feel that they’ve reached the quality of traditional sports. This could be done by better utilizing their tournament realm since it could have far fewer updates and gameplay changes, but this creates a disparity between the game that amateurs play and the one that professionals play, which is a very bad directions to go towards since one of the underlining psychological principles behind fandom is relating to the professional you admire. It’s hard to relate with someone who plays essentially a different game.

My suggested solution (for League of Legends) for the above issue is quite drastic and may be horrible to do currently, but one day, it may be a suitable direction. My solution would be to halt all gameplay changes to Summoner’s Rift except balancing and yearly updates. I would adopt a similar model as item development by introducing new champions/changes into the other game maps and at the beginning of each season consider which champions/changes should transition to Summoner’s Rift.


Visibility


A huge problem faced by the esports scene is the ability to attract more viewers. This issue is based around two problems with visibility. First, you only hear about esports if you're already a gamer. This vastly limits the growth potential of esports, and it could be very detrimental in the future as companies are deciding whether it is worth it to put money into developing the esports scene. There is really no easy solution to this, but I'd like to see more buzz generated for the larger tournaments outside of the online domain. It is true that a majority of your target market is online, but it is important for esports to have a presence away from the internet so that people become aware of it.

The second visibility issue is with regards to gameplay. I've read a number of blogs and articles that go over what makes a game successful as an esport, and one of the biggest points they make is that it needs to be easy to understand. This means that the objectives, strategies, and risk vs reward decisions should be apparent to a brand new spectator. This issue is evident in League of Legends because it is hard for a new viewer, who has never played, to understand the champions and their roles. All of us players have no issue understanding things like the differences between various ap mids, but for a new player or someone who just happened to check out a tournament broadcast they would have no clue. While the casters do help with this issue, I find that they focus a lot more on the higher thought process involved in the gameplay and not the basics.

My suggested solution for this involves the creation of a new viewer stream that has casters explain the basic fundamentals of the game that the general audience would find tedious. Moreover, educational broadcasts and pre/post game shows that help delve deeper into the gameplay and decision making of professionals. These are not new concepts and are done for regular sports, so I believe they would be a welcome addition to tournament content.


Please post your thoughts and questions below! I’m going to continue delving into the realm of esports and League of Legends by trying to make use of my business degree.

The Evolution of the MMORPG Genre

With the release of games like Tera and the up-and-coming release of Guild Wars 2, we are seeing a shift is style from the MMORPG gameplay that we are used to from games like World of Warcraft and EverQuest. The shift is based around the combat system in an effort to become more action orientated. This means that there is more of an emphasis on positioning, targeting, and evasion of your enemy than in the predecessors of this genre.


Is this a good or bad thing?

The MMORPG genre has remained quite stagnant for the last decade as seen by World of Warcraft's dominance of the market. This level of stagnation has harmed the development of the genre and gaming as a whole because companies for sometime avoided innovation. In some regard, you can't blame them for this since the current generation of gamers isn't kind to new ideas and reject change quite a bit. It is a bit ironic since most gamers desire more from their gaming experience, but when something new arises they bombard it with ridicule, but this is another issue entirely that I will address in another post.

Additional to the ridicule received from players, game developers also face the issue of deciding what aspect of the genre to innovate. Making a bad choice in this area could be disastrous since the game's entire development is based around this decision. A fine example of this is seen by Star Wars: The Old Republic who decided to try and innovate the leveling experience by having fully voice acted stories that the players follow as they level. The issue with this was that they focused too much on this aspect, and when players hit max levels, they had nothing innovative and original to keep their interest. The pvp and raiding was very much identical to games like World of Warcraft.
Now I don't want to be too critical of Star Wars: The Old Republic, Bioware was success in the aspect of gameplay they decided to master. In fact, it was the most enjoyable levelling experience I've ever had in an MMORPG, but after I finished levelling, I was quite disappointed to not see this innovation flow into the rest of the game as much as it should have.


So spending insane amounts of resources on a minor aspect of gameplay is bad?

Yes!

Having a competitive advantage is important, but your advantage must keep the customer's needs in mind. If you fail to effectively identify what your customers want then you'll be producing a product/service that has no demand. A prime example of this being done success (we hope) is Guild Wars 2. Like Star Wars: The Old Republic, they've made use of voice acting and dynamic/fluid questing, but they didn't go to the same level of depth. They spread their focus more so that they could bring innovation in other areas such as combat style.


Tips for Innovative Design

• Pick a current feature of the product and expand on it. This method is far easier than creating a brand new feature.
• Make sure your innovation is what the customers want. Do not waste your time building a box if your customer wants a circle.
• Don't compromise current features for furthering your innovation. Even if you're innovating, the rest of the product needs to meet the minimum standards expected by your customers.

Starting A Movement

Today in my Organizational Behaviour class, we went over how to successfully create change in a business. My professor started off by showing us this 3 minute TED video that captures virtually everything you need to make a successful change/movement.




There are a lot of things in such a short video, but the key points are:

1. Leaders need guts to create a movement/change.
2. The initial followers active as leaders and must be treated as equals.
3. Leaders are responsible for nurturing followers.
4. Movements/change must be public.
5. More followers = less risk for newcomers.
6. Focus on the vision/movement/change rather than the people.

There are more subtle points, but these are the more important ones in my opinion.

Shaping of Reality by Networking

This is a follow-up to my Perception and Shaping Reality post last week. This week, I'd like to explore how we can bring about a change in perception. I'll be looking at how humans naturally form "tribes"(networks) as described by David Logan in his TEDx Talk. The main point I'm taking from his talk is how we can improve our own networking and increase our individual/organizational clout.

Perception: What we see lies upon the surface. What is lies underneath the surface.

To change how disabled people are perceived, we must expand the tribes(networks) that hold the values of acceptance and understanding. I know many non-profits, and advocacy groups try to do this already, but their reach is usually limited to the reach of their members. That is say, they rarely expand past their current tribe. As stated in David Logan's video, great tribe leaders are those who expand their tribe's influence by introducing people to other people. This is somewhat of an absurd concept since you'd think that you're just expanding the other person's tribe, but I would like to suggest a possible explanation. The act of introducing one person to another is a show of confidence and power. You are asserting yourself to the other 2 people and taking a leading role. This means that they will be more likely to follow your values in the near future. In essence, you've influenced 2 tribes with one action instead of 1. This act has allowed you to establish clout(social power) among both the tribes.

How do I establish clout?

The key is to attend as many social gatherings, conferences, dinners, fundraisers, clubs, etc. as you can. A lot of people use these events to network, but most don't fully take advantage of the situation. I would suggest that after you've attended an event where you networked, you should follow up with the people you've met. Go for a coffee, develop a relationship outside of the particular event you met at. This added step lets you move from acquaintances to being friends/colleagues.

How do I use my clout?

With the establishment of personal or organizational clout, you can move on to my next suggested step for motivating the shaping of perception. Start a cause/movement that fits within your established values (the values that your tribes follow) and elicits action by those who see it. You need something to be eye-catching and 'viral' for it to be successful. A fine example of this concept in recent media was the Kony 2012 campaign. The Invisible Children organization spent years establishing its clout at universities throughout the USA so that when they made an eye-catching video it went viral immediately. I find this to be the hardest part because you need to create content that generates action. You may have the clout necessary for your friends/colleagues to spread the message, but the people who see it need to act upon seeing your video. To help with this conundrum, you should look to expanding your networks in a few particular circles; university students, film makers, and communications professionals.

Following-up the action

This step is often left out in most practices. It is synonymous with the last step of many business models that relate to feedback/monitoring performance. This step is often overlooked because the project/product has already been finished, but it is critical for insuring the success and growth of future endeavours. In the non-profit world, this is why donors usually receive some form of thank you, and shaping perception is no different. If you don't follow-up by sending thank you's, or asking for feedback then your supports/tribes/networks will think that the cause was successful and no more action is needed. This is rarely the case since most causes require years of protesting, and fundraising for to be completely successful. Just as our existence is continuous, so are the issues we face.

Summarized Steps:

1. Establish personal/organizational clout by attending networking functions.
2. Follow-up meetings with your new contacts to develop personal connection.
3. Start a cause that aligns with your network's values.
4. Create a video, site, blog post, event, etc that can catch the attention and elicit action.
5. Follow-up to tell everyone it isn't over yet.
   

Questions or comments about my thought process/suggested steps are welcome.

Perception and Shaping Reality

This TEDx video inspired me to write on a topic that I've always found fascinating since it pertains to my life quite a bit.

Essentially, the concept of perception that we know today is formed around our cultural norms, and these norms are typically defined as a collective agreement by the majority. While the acceptance of norms usually needs some form of majority to be adopted, the drivers of these norms are typically a minority. A prime example of this is how celebrities influence current trends. So based on the above classifications, perceptions are cultural norms that the majority has accepted, but a minority created. What does this mean for finding ways to change or shape perceptions?

It means that anyone can do it! The trick is finding out how. I'd like to believe that to shape our current and future perceptions, we need to first look to the past and determine why the current perception exists. Since I'm personally invested, I shall focus on why people in wheelchairs are seen as being 'disabled,' useless, and/or inept. I like to think that the root of this perception is simply that people are ignorant of the truth, but to really change things, I need to delve into the traditions of our predecessors and find out how they treated people who were different. Of course, there isn't much mystery behind this question. Our history is riddled full of subjugation, segregation, and degradation. We, as a species, shun what we don't understand because we fear the unknown. We need to feel in control to feel powerful, and on some levels, we feel we have a divine right to be powerful. We see this all the time with statements like: "We're the top of the food chain," "We're the chosen ones." Even though these statements may very well hold truth, our species acts like a spoiled brat who deserves all the shiny new toys.

Ahh, but I digress. I am to be focused on perception and not on all the indignities of humankind. If we look to the past, we see the purging and segregation of physically disabled individuals. In today's society, this would be considered horrific, although segregation does still occur, but it not as horrific as in the past. So, the root of our perception of disabled individuals is based around the past acts of purging and segregation. With the root defined as best as we can, we can move forward to erasing them from our current society, right? Only if things were that simple. The issue is figuring out how a minority creates a norm that the majority will not only accept but will act on. We can't all be famous and influence millions by tweeting about our clothing. Of course, there has be another way to influence the majority besides being a celebrity, or else, people like Martin Luther King, Jr. or Ghandhi wouldn't exist.

I'll be stopping here for now. A small teaser of what is to come: What motivates people/tribes? TEDx Tribal Leadership

The Joining of Business Theory and the Medical Field

Background

For my topic of project management, I found an article on the post-project review of the application of project management principles in health and medical research. In the article Researchers’ Experience with Project Management in Health and Medical Research: Results from a Post-Project Review, Janet M. Payne et al. (2011) looked into the reaction project management had on the researchers and “whether it made a difference to the project” (p. 2). The premise of their project was to “provid[e] health professionals … in Western Australia (WA) with educational resources to inform them about the prevention of prenatal exposure to alcohol and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder” (Payne et al., 2011, p. 2). The project management strategy that they employed was based on the guidelines found in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), which focuses on a five step process of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and monitoring (Payne et al., 2011, p. 1). The real merit of this article is how it shows the versatility of project management and how it can be applied to any type of project. Moreover, it tells of the reaction that professionals in the medical and research field had towards this business based concept.

Current Issue

The main issue was applying a business modelled theory to that of a health and medical project. For the researchers, this meant looking at things differently than they would typically, so the key process for their success, in my opinion, was their planning phase, so I’ll be focusing on that primarily. The researchers used a web-based template to help them develop their project plan which included the project purpose, objectives, management of the project, stakeholder management, media communication, publication and authorship policy, risk management, issue management, and project scheduling (Payne et al., 2011, p. 3-4). While most of these steps are pretty straight forward, the researchers expanded upon the management of the project by creating seven specific roles. The roles they decided upon were project champion, project leader, steering committee, project team, chairperson, project manager, and consumer and community reference groups (Payne et al., 2011 p. 3). This subdivision of roles enabled them to divide the work and hold individuals accountable for completing their specific tasks. This focus on accountability and assigning of tasks was further reinforced by the fact that in their project scheduling plan they created a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart.

Moreover the groups they created, project champion and consumer reference groups were geared for this specific project and showed that they were thinking of their audience rather than getting bogged down with the medical jargon when approaching the development and delivery of their information on alcohol and pregnancy. The responsibility of the project champion was to “promot[e] the benefits of the project to the broader community,” and the consumer references group was tasked with “convey[ing] community perspectives and guidance to enhance the success of the project” (Payne et al., 2011, p. 3). These roles are very important to note on because as David Cohn (2011) said in his article Project Managers – Game On, “some organizations have the wrong vision for a project” (p. 1). He goes on to say that a loss of vision isn’t so bad as long as you learn from it (Cohn, 2011, p. 1). Thankfully for the researchers, they didn’t need to learn this lesson since they were focused on their audience from the start when they developed their project plan.

Results

After creating a project plan, the researchers were able to complete the project on time and on budget. The researchers made use of project management to its fullest by creating a project plan that used a well refined methodology based on the PMBOK Guide, which is one of the top tips for effective project management mentioned by Dr. Ian Clarkson in his article Top Tips for Effective Project Management where he says, “adopting a project management methodology will ‘win the battle’” (2011, p. 1). They also maintained their focus on their audience which enabled them to preserve their project vision. After the project ended, the researchers were given questionnaires by Payne et al., and the results of researchers' opinion of project management was nothing but positive. They claimed, according to Payne et al. (2011), that, “it ‘established and facilitated effective methods of communication and decision making’ … It ‘supported the establishment and maintenance of teamwork … members were clear on expectations’ and roles’’” (p. 5). Additionally, the project was so successful that the researchers said that they “would recommend this type of project management for similar future research projects” (Payne et al., 2011, p. 8). This finding means that current methods of project management, specifically project planning, can be used for medical and health projects to increase the rate of project being completed on time and on budget.

Blog Question

According to the researchers what two things did project management enable them to do?

References 

Clarkson, I. (2011, December 11). Top Tips for Effective Project Management. Retrieved

from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/top-tips-for-effective-project-management.html. 

Cohn, D. (2011). PROJECT MANAGERS -- GAME ON. (cover story). Quill, 99(1),

18-19.

Payne, J. M., France, K. E., Henley, N., D'Antoine, H. A., Bartu, A. E., Elliott, E. J., &

Bower, C. (2011). Researchers' experience with project management in health and

medical research: Results from a post-project review. BMC Public Health, 11(1),

424-434. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-424

First Leg of the Journey

The flight to Paris was pretty problem free for our team. We had no issues with wheelchairs being damaged like when we traveled to Montreal. Air Canada took care of us nicely this time around, and the pilots even made an announcement wishing us good luck, which, for me, really struck home with the magnitude of our trip and responsibility to represent our country to the best of our abilities. My most memorable moment of the airport in Paris was all the guys with guns walking around, and I don't mean small handguns! As we traveled from the airport to Vaucresson, where we'd be staying for the initial training portion of our trip, I enjoyed looking out at the exquisite scenery. Similar to how it was in Montreal, I didn't understand anything on the signs and billboards, and there was a lot of graffiti. Mind you, the graffiti wasn't ugly, but in fact, a lot of it was quite artistic in nature.

Now that we had arrived, it was time to get down to business! We had a very busy week of training ahead to get us accustomed to the time change. We started by having a small training session the day we arrived as a way to keep us awake since we arrived early that day Paris time. It was quite apparent that everyone was exhausted, but the session served its purpose and got us through the day! Over the next few days, we had a number of sessions and scrimmages against Team USA. These scrimmages proved to be our greatest learning tool and wake up call for our team. Team USA was definitely a force to be reckoned with as they dominated the flow of the game in every scrimmage, but we were not discouraged! Every scrimmage we tried something new and improved greatly. The whole experience was, in my opinion, the best thing that could have happened to our young, inexperienced team.

On the last day of training, a mini-tournament was held for fun between Team Canada, Team USA, Team Australia, and the division 2 champions of the French league. This gave us an opportunity to see how good the Australian team was, which was very beneficial since they were in the same pool as us for the World Cup. As expected of any national team, the Australian team proved to be quite strong for being such a young team (even younger than us), and we ended up tying them 1-1. We were unsure of what to expect from the French team, but they proved to be a very strong team and ended up beating us. After the mini-tournament, despite everyone being exhausted, we decided to hold a fun game with a few of the French players joining Team Canada and playing against Team USA. With the infusion of the skilled French players, the game was quite exciting! It was very cool to see the players adapt to the slight language barrier since the French players only knew a little English.

With training aside, we did end up taking some time to do some sightseeing! As a team, we went to see the Eiffel Tower, but instead of explaining how amazing it was, I'll just post some pictures.

As the Excitement Swells....

I am so very pleased with the build up of excitement around our first National Team!

Back when we started training, I feared that we wouldn't receive the coverage and support that a National Team should garner, but thanks to the hard work of our team and our supporters, my fears have been squelched. We are riding high on the clouds with the hopes and expectations of those who look to us for great things, and we'll try to not disappoint!

Despite the praise and reverence we've had cascade upon us as of late, this isn't so much about us being praised as it is about having the sport we love put into the spotlight across Canada. Our success will be measured not only by the trophy we hope to bring home, but also, through the growth of Powersoccer across Canada. Only time will tell if our hard work has helped Powersoccer to grow in Canada, but I am certain of one thing, it is just the beginning.

Team Canada with our great supports Rob Ellis and Calista Johnston-Parkin after they gave us our uniforms.

Team Canada with Rick Mercer!

The Honour of being Knighted

Last week, our Coach named who would be the captain and assistant/back-up captain for Team Canada. In the past, our team captains have never been much more than someone to participate in the coin toss, but as we approach the world stage, I believe that the captain will be play a pivotal role in maintaining the composure of the team by making the big saves or scoring the big goals that allow the flow of the game to turn into your favour. I was one of 3 of our members (myself, Jordan Marks, and Luke Galvani), who said they would be up to the challenge and responsibility of being the team's captain. All three of us have been putting our all into the team in numerous areas such as publicity, sponsors, play-making, and dedication to practicing, but we all couldn't be the captain.

Ultimately, our coach, Gordon Marks, named myself to be the Team Captain and Jordan Marks to be the Assistant Captain. It's a title that I've held in the past, but as I said earlier, this time it will be more than just because we need a team captain for the coin toss. I feel honoured to be able to say that I'm the captain of such an amazing group of athletes, and I'm glad to have Jordan there for support. It's truly inspirational how far we've come in the last year through our practice and extraordinary fundraising efforts. It has been a great learning experience for myself as I helped with finding sponsors and getting us as much publicity as possible.

Besides winning and supporting my teammates, I plan to continually update this blog with how we're doing and pictures. I'm not sure how much free time I'll have, or if I'll have the energy to do this, but I will do my best to post somethings for everyone to see how we're doing.

As for what I plan to bring back as a souvenir.... :)

The Number To Rule All Numbers!!

Over the years of playing Powerchair Football, I have used a few numbers such as 69(my childish phase), and 87(my birth year), but for representing Canada, I wanted to put some thought into the number I would be wearing. My initial idea was to google famous sport athlete numbers, but I felt that mimicking the number of an already famous athlete would detract meaning from the significance of being on Canada's first National Team for Powerchair Football. I continued my train of thought to try and find numbers of importance in my life such as; my age, the year I graduated high school, my birthday, number of siblings, etc. All of these options seemed to fit my ideal of having a number that represented something, or someone, important to me, but I wasn't being original, so I decided to go back to the drawing board.

I was seeking originality(to some extent) and a connection that is important to me.... Well, after some thought, the answer became as clear as day. I decided to draw my number from a source that has given me strength and courage since I was a child, the Lord. To be specific, the prayer of putting on the Holy Armour of God found in Ephesians:

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. - Ephesians 6:11-20

This particular scripture holds great meaning in my life because of my Mom. As a child, we would always put on my armour before I went to bed, and to this day, I find strength through the practice of putting on the Armour of the Lord. Of course, the scripture is far more wordy than my Mom's version(I was a kid after all):

I put on the Helmet of Salvation,
the Breastplate of Righteousness,
the Shield of Faith,
the Sword of the Spirit,
the Belt of Truth,
and Feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace.

I am truly an ambassador, not only for God, but for my Country, for individuals with Arthrogryposis, for individuals with Muscular Dystrophy, and for everyone that has supported me throughout my life.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering how I used this scripture for picking my number, right? It was simple! I decided to use the starting verse, Ephesians 6:11, and I just add 6 to 11.... 17!!!

The New Valiant Stead(wheels)!

As those who are close to me may know, my wheelchair broke down last summer, and I've been dealing with the long process of getting a new one. This process was extremely stressful because at first it looked like it could have ruined my chances to make our National Team. Luckily, I was given a loaner wheelchair by Motion Specialties, and I was still able to tryout for the team!!!

Finally, this last week I was able to use my brand new wheelchair. The wheelchair was hand built by a local manufacturer called Ranger Wheelchairs. Their work thus far has impressed us all, and they have been very open to making the necessary modifications for Powersoccer.

The Journey to Paris Begins.

Since November 2010, athletes across Canada started training to become a part of the biggest milestone, the FIPFA World Cup, in the history of Powersoccer in Canada, which is the most prominent sport for individuals in electric wheelchairs world wide. The sport itself has been around since the 80s, but in the last 5-8 years it has made huge strides to grow and become internationally recognized.

Over the next month, I'll be posting about Powersoccer and Canada's journey to Paris.


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