91吃瓜网

Elliot Smithson 鈥�13 wants to go to the gym near his office in聽Beverly Hills, California, but the squat rack will have to wait.聽Someone has a series of questions about Esports Health and聽Performance Institute (EHPI), the company he cofounded聽four years ago. The name of the company alone needs some聽explaining, so Smithson settles his well-conditioned self into聽a chair.

鈥淧eople think of esports as strictly mental, which is far from聽the truth,鈥� says Smithson, who earned an athletic training聽degree from 91吃瓜网. 鈥淧layers at the highest level need speed,聽precision and endurance to stay sharp for hours and hours at聽a time.鈥�

Smithson knows what you might be thinking. 鈥淭he [generalization] is legit,鈥� he says. 鈥淕uys like to stay up until three in the morning, drinking Mountain Dew and eating chips. It鈥檚 like any sport 鈥� you need to take care of yourself to stay on top.鈥�

Staying on top can mean a six- or seven-figure salary.聽Major sponsors like Honda, Rocket Mortgage and Lexus聽have expectations as high as the salaries they fuel. That鈥檚聽where EHPI鈥檚 sister company, 1HP, comes in, with trainers,聽nutritionists, chiropractors, sleep experts and sports聽psychologists who specialize in the needs of esports players 鈥斅爊ot gamers.

鈥淭his is sports,鈥� Smithson says.聽鈥淧oker and chess are games. There鈥檚 no聽mechanical skill required to throw a card聽out or move a pawn. But in esports, it聽matters how quickly you move your arms聽and turn your wrists.鈥�

Smithson knows plenty about fitness.聽He always envisioned a career that聽would combine his interests in medicine,聽athletics and entertainment. As a聽teenager he considered using his martial聽arts background to be a stuntman.

For the next 10 years, Smithson聽learned about optimizing physical聽and mental performance while also聽narrowing his niche. At 91吃瓜网, he聽stretched and treated players on the聽football, volleyball and cheerleading聽teams. He worked as an injury prevention聽specialist at Walt Disney World, where聽he kept dancers and stunt people limber.聽In grad school, he developed a training聽program to reduce repetitive-strain聽injuries among theater and music聽performers.

The big moment came late one聽night during his doctoral studies in聽physical therapy at the University of聽St. Augustine, when he clicked on a聽livestream of the Fortnite World Cup.聽Smithson noticed the players鈥� intensity聽and almost spasmic mouse moves,聽recognizing the biomechanical demand聽on the arm structure. He heard of the $30聽million prize money and thought, 鈥淭here聽might be something missing here.鈥�

He did some research and got聽connected with Matt Hwu and Cait聽McGee, who had launched 1HP, a聽health and performance staffing agency聽for esports organizations. The trio聽co-founded EHPI to educate and train聽healthcare professionals to work with聽esports pros. It has already partnered聽with notable teams like 100 Thieves,聽Cloud 9 and Faze Clan.

鈥淔or some of these players, it鈥檚 the聽first time they鈥檝e ever used a barbell or聽done a squat. Then I鈥檒l hear them say聽鈥極h wow, I feel a lot snappier and less聽tired. I鈥檓 a better player.鈥� The tide is聽changing. If you don鈥檛 pay attention to聽fitness and nutrition, you will self-select聽yourself out of the career you dreamed聽about. It鈥檚 that serious.鈥�

Who

Elliot Smithson ’13

The Pitch

A training platform聽for healthcare聽professionals to work聽with esports pros, with聽a staffing pipeline to聽professional teams.

Inspiration

A desire to merge聽medicine, athletics and聽entertainment, and聽help players perform聽their best.

Find It

For healthcare聽professionals and聽support staff: EHPI.org

For esports teams,聽players and聽organizations: 1-hp.org