Christian Kramer (46) from Freising presented his ideas for virtual competitions to the ice hockey association.
The first test run should start in February.
District
- controllers instead of clubs and a heated room with a monitor instead of an ice rink with a players bench: these could soon be the framework for duels between Bavarian ice hockey clubs.
Last week, the clubs received information about eSports from the ice hockey chairman of the Bavarian Ice Sports Association (BEV), Frank Butz, with a request for feedback.
The aim is to find out whether the clubs are interested in virtual ice hockey matches against other clubs in NHL 21, a computer game from EA Sports.
The impulse for this action came from a Freising - more precisely from Christian Kramer.
He likes to play on the console himself and thought he would combine this hobby with meaningful further training.
He came across the eSports course at the University of Applied Management in Ismaning - and registered there for the “Event Management eSports” module.
The association is impressed by the online presentation
Together with his neighbor Andreas Sten, the 2nd department head of the Freising Black Bears, the 46-year-old discussed the topic of eSports in ice hockey.
The idea was well received by some of the Freising players - and so Kramer thought that it could be put on a broader basis right away, and contacted the association.
With success: at the beginning of December, the IT project manager from Freising met with some BEV officials and presented his ideas.
“He had made a very, very clear online presentation about it for me and some colleagues from the association.
And he showed us a few possibilities, ”summarizes Butz.
“Personally, I haven't had much contact with the gaming sector yet.
But as an association, because of the ongoing lockdown and the impending end of the season, you have the task of dealing with alternative offers. "
I just want the sport to somehow continue when it doesn't work in the normal world.
Christian Kramer
In addition to the positive feedback, it was agreed to start a first test together in February.
Before that, the association will conduct a survey to determine whether there are any players in the clubs who have experience playing ice hockey at the console.
The questions as to which NHL version is being played, whether the actors control their team in a one-on-one manner, or whether, for example, six players compete as a team within a game against another team of six, should also be investigated.
On the part of the initiators, there are currently no concrete specifications regarding the number and composition of the individual teams, the course of the games and the overall mode.
Rather, one would like that gender and age do not play a role and that very mixed teams start for the clubs.
Christian Kramer already has ideas for the further development of the event: For example, the individual encounters could be streamed via YouTube or Twitch and thus the teammates, fans and sponsors in the clubs could be involved.
The introduction of a virtual league game under the umbrella of the association with its own sponsorship would also be conceivable if the response was great.
Online competitions: Several questions remain to be answered
"At the moment we are still in a very early phase in which everything is still on the brink," says Christian Kramer.
The questions of whether all of this will be pursued in the long term, or whether a virtual season could be held in summer or in parallel with games in winter, are not yet at the top of the agenda.
At the moment only a first test balloon is planned, nothing concrete can be said about further development.
The Freising IT project manager does not see himself in the role of event manager or organizer, but only as a source of ideas.
“The organizer of the whole thing will be the ice hockey association.
I just want the sport to continue somehow when it doesn't work in the normal world, ”emphasizes Christian Kramer.
“And I want the image of the computer gamer, which is fraught with many clichés, to be softened a little.
So that these sports simulations make it clear that performance is also provided in the area of eSports. "
Josef Fuchs
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Ice hockey in the Freising district: Hope is melting