Esports Training Center Opens In Suffolk: 'Little League For Esports'

WEST HILLS, NY — Game on! Valhallan Esports Training West Hills, where kids can go to learn how to play video games competitively and learn life skills, has opened.

The center is at 400 W. Jericho Turnpike, Huntington. It opened on Dec. 29, owner David Glick said.

"If you’re a parent, a lot of us, we see our kids, particularly post-pandemic, sitting at home on their screens," Glick told Patch. "It’s very frustrating at a lot of times. We find that screens are a social crutch that inhibits our kids from getting out there, making friends and being social."

Valhallan West Hills views parents who want to bolster their kids' socialization skills through gaming as those they're looking to service.

People can check out Valhallan's website here.

"There’s no reason for your kid to be sitting inside gaming," Glick said. "We’re going to create an in-person experience with other kids for them."

At Valhallan, kids are taught the values of teamwork, communication and sportsmanship, Glick said. The values in esports reflect those of traditional sports, according to the business, as players still work toward a common goal and win graciously and lose while respecting their opponents.

"There is a lot to be learned there," Glick said. "Parents are seeing this value in traditional sports. There are a lot of kids where traditional athletic sports are not their thing. The values that these parents are looking for in regular athletic sports, they find themselves frustrated."

Glick said his center aims to provide an outlet for kids who prefer video games and esports over athletic sports while still teaching the same core life lessons.

"You might be the best person on the team. You might be a supporting person on the team and just having to deal with that and how it relates to real life and how you have to get along with different people who have different abilities who you might mesh with or might not mesh with. We’re looking to impart all of that and create a little league for esports experiences here for kids."

Valhallan offers exclusive training to give children a space for fun, competition, game mastery and life skills, according to its website. It also aims to help children with college scholarships.

"We call our training the Legendary Path®. You’ll call it an investment in your child’s future."

Glick said the esports market is in its early growth stage, and that he has seen the space expand "tremendously" in high schools and colleges over the past five years. He noted that colleges now offer scholarships for competitive esports.

NACE, an organization that focuses on esports programs at the college level, advocates for members to create varsity programs that include scholarships and a strong institutional commitment to the sport. NACE is the largest member association of college and university sponsored esports programs that promotes the education and development of students through intercollegiate esports.

"A little league for esports; that’s what we’re looking to create," Glick said. "I think this is where the big growth is, simply because there’s nothing organized there currently, and that’s what we’re going to seek to fill."

Valhallan offers monthly memberships, summer camps, workshops, and more.

The business has scheduled a walk-in event from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday so parents can check the place out and learn more about the competitive gaming market.

Glick said he is "extremely, extremely" excited about opening and said the feedback and response has been "really strong."

He said parents in Huntington and the surrounding areas are "so involved" with their children and their kids' activities.

"Their interest in not just the educational development of their kid, but the social growth of their kid," he said. "I saw that involvement in just being a resident of the area and hearing from other parents the complaints about how their kids are inside a lot, they’re on the screen gaming. I saw an opportunity to turn gaming from an isolating experience for kids into an in-person social one with other like-minded kids they’re more likely to become friends with."