Established in 2021, Affinity Esports celebrates its third year by once again offering a wide variety of summer camps and programs that blend socialization and skill development through video games.

The organization has its headquarters in Newtown and aims to be a safe haven for electronic gaming for people of all ages across Connecticut, as well as a trailblazer for promoting inclusion and healthy gaming.

Affinity Esports Director of Operations Kate Petersen says that Affinity was founded with the idea of bringing happier and healthier gaming experiences to people, with a focus on esports (short for electronic sports), which is organized competitive gaming.

According to her, their initial titles were all esports-based games such as Rocket League, Fortnite, Valorant, and Super Smash Bros. As time went on, they branched out into other avenues such as game creation and content creation; adding in titles that kids feel really passionate about such as Minecraft and Roblox.

Summer camps are one of Affinity’s many programs, and work to guide children to build healthy habits and valuable life skills such as teamwork and problem solving beyond the screen. These camps have included a game creation focused camp where participants create pixel art and put it into a playable game and another that had Minecraft be the vehicle for teaching the basics of responsible and healthy gaming.

One of these camps includes their week-long Content Creation Live Streaming Camp that ran from July 8-12. For ages 7-17, this program was designed for young people to master live streaming on platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok, and focused on developing a dynamic camera presence as well as content creation skills. It also helped participants gain practical skills in audio and lighting, as well as video recording and video editing.

Affinity Esports Program and Events Coordinator Kelvin Mizhquiri-Aucay said that he wanted to make a big point to not just teach participants in the course how to record videos or how to put themselves out there, but also the live aspect of content creation.

While Mizhquiri-Aucay is fully aware that many children want to make content, he is also very aware of the many dangers that come with the internet.

“So many kids, I feel, want to become YouTubers or streamers someday. This is a safer way for them to, in a controlled environment, make content,” Mizhquiri-Aucay explained. “We can see what they’re making, make sure it’s appropriate, and make sure that they’re not putting too much out there.”

Mizhquiri-Aucay made it a point to repeatedly emphasize the importance of internet safety and boundaries in the course. These lessons include keeping sensitive information such as their address or names private and taking advantage of protective tools built into services such as YouTube and Twitch like automod that automatically ban swear words and how to enable them.

“It’s a dangerous world out there, especially on the internet. You’re gonna get some weirdos out there … people who really don’t want the best for these kids,” Mizhquiri-Aucay said. “I want to teach these kids that there are ways to protect yourself that they may not even realize.”

To him, the Content Creation Live Streaming Camp could act as an environment where they can make what they want in an environment with other people their age.

This was incredibly important to Mizhquiri-Aucay, who feels that it can be a lonely road for someone who tries to play games or make content and never reach out to anybody. So seeing those in the course come together, collaborate, and come out of their shell has been “amazing to see.”

“I had one kid on day one [of the program] out in the hall who didn’t want to come into the room. By day three I had to tell him to tone it down because he was being too loud. He came right out of his shell,” Mizhquiri-Aucay said. “And it’s so awesome seeing kids socialize about stuff like this; seeing them have fun with it.”

That being said, he did so while being honest with those in the course. He encouraged them to not spend an exuberant amount of money on any sort of equipment; to instead explore free options and to focus on what sets them apart from others.

While Affinity offers programs for all ages, they primarily focus their offerings on the youth level. To that end, Petersen says that Affinity is always trying to make sure everyone is comfortable with the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating of what the kids are playing.

Since many esport games are rated T for Teen, meaning that the games feature content generally suitable for ages 13 and up, Petersen said they are always trying to add in new E for Everyone games that are suitable for all ages, and that parents have games that are appropriate for their children to play.

Petersen is well aware of the fact that people from all over want to play video games. However, they also understand that a lot of parents have trepidations about gaming and might not be familiar with it.

Now a mother herself, Petersen feels that gaming has changed a lot since she was a kid, and has seen firsthand how a lot of parents feel some anxiety around gaming that their children are continuously involved in and passionate about.

“Our hope is to bridge that gap between the parents and the kids and help [parents] understand their child’s passion; to help them understand that gaming can be a vehicle for learning and important critical skills,” Petersen continued. “That’s a huge part of what we do.”

She and the others at Affinity are working to overcome the negative stigma associated with gaming by creating a safe and inclusive community through their programming.

Mizhquiri-Aucay acknowledges that gaming has a reputation for being toxic, and says that “it’s not always unearned.” He says that there is a segment of the gaming population that seems to get some enjoyment by being negative and making other people feel bad about themselves.

“And I think sometimes kids can get the idea that that’s cool or the only way that they can interact, and I worry about kids gaming at home alone without some support to be like ‘hey, it doesn’t cost anything to be nice,’” Mizhquiri-Aucay continued. “I think everyone can pick up bad habits in those ways, so we try to help guide them.”

While he says that the negative stigma is there and that they “can’t exactly stop that” since there will always be people who lash out and display toxic behaviors, the least they can do is make sure more people never start acting that way.

To Petersen and Mizhquiri-Aucay, Affinity can act as a safe space for people to connect and bond with others their own age in a safe environment. That growth in programs such as the Content Creation Live Streaming Camp, Petersen says gives people a chance to flourish and come into their own.

“It’s a new environment and they often feel really nervous and out of their comfort zone when they get here,” Petersen said. “But then they get to talk about their special interests with people that share it, make new friends, and often they continue the friendship after camp.”

Affinity recently opened its second studio in Milford and is holding several summer camps there, as well as youth game nights and adult game nights. Looking into the fall, Petersen says that the new studio will be fully open with offerings such as after school programs and competitive club teams.

Petersen adds that Affinity is looking to open new locations across the state in the coming years. This is in part to accommodate many people who Petersen says travel a long way to come and check out their programs.

Now three years after its establishment, Petersen says that she feels that Affinity is “getting to where a larger portion of the community knows that we’re here,” and that they are happy to support the community right back.

“I always encourage people if they’re curious about us, if they have a gamer at home that might be interested, to come stop in and check us out, “ Petersen said. “We love to have new faces.”

Affinity Esports has a Newtown studio located at 27 Glen Road, along with a Milford studio located at 125 Old Gate Lane. For more information about Affinity Esports, visit their website affinityesports.gg, call 203-290-1656, or e-mail hello@affinityesports.gg.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.