Local entrepreneur Rick Suarez took his life-long love of sports and flipped the switch to create a company built around virtual gaming.
Founded in 2019, Charlotte-based startup Stay Plugged IN is an esports scouting organization that helps provide pathways to college, as well as upward mobility for esports amateurs throughout the country.
"We are intentional in our efforts to provide a proper foundation and education for both players and parents in the esports ecosystem," he said. "Esports has risen to become a [multi-billion dollar] per-year industry with no end in sight."
Suarez, who is also the president of United American Steel Company in Weddington, said running an esports company was never part of the plan until his son became a gamer, and he decided to dig into what it was all about.
"I decided to do some investigating to find out what he was spending all of his time doing, and I realized there were so many parents, like me, who looked at esports like it was just video games," he said. "In reality, it's a massive opportunity for students... There's been so much growth that there are now scholarships for both esports players and coaches at the collegiate level."
Suarez said more than 250 colleges across the country offer esports scholarships, including the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, North Carolina State University and Winthrop University.
To help increase students' visibility to college recruiters, Stay Plugged IN hosts high school tournaments throughout the year. This, Suarez said, allows students to show recruiters what they can do. The company also shares information from these tournaments with colleges across the U.S.
"The college scene has really exploded with esports clubs and teams on almost every single college campus," he said. "At Stay Plugged IN, we want to be sure players find, get connected to and take advantage of such opportunities."
Kids who become involved with Stay Plugged IN are privy to the same type of team experience as someone playing for a high school sports team, Suarez said.
"These kids have coaches... We're really trying to teach those middle and high school students that, as with any live sport, sportsmanship is critical," he said. "How you act during those games, as well as when you're not playing, is of the utmost importance. Be a good person, first and foremost, then put that together with your talent, and you've got the total package."
In addition to the high school tournaments, Stay Plugged IN offers additional tournaments, esports camps and virtual courses throughout the year, recently partnering with Carolina Fintech Hub to host a youth tech apprenticeship camp that Suarez said utilized esports and coding to help students gain upward mobility into the workforce after high school.
"We want to be a community-centric organization, and our main mission is for young players to find pathways to the college of the choice while finding the comfort level to be themselves when they get there," he said. "For a number of kids, that's hard, so to be able to step on campus and sit down and talk to someone with those same interests is critical."
