October 28, 2019

Lost Tribe Esports: Putting the ‘Jewish’ in Gaming

Tags: 2019, Spark Grants

What if your teenager or pre-teen could engage in the video gaming they love – while connecting with other Jewish kids in a safe, mensch-y environment in which to make friends? Now they can.

If you have a teenager or pre-teen in the house, you know how popular video games are with Generation Z. Gaming is part of the landscape for today’s teens — and has become, for many of them, a central part of their social life. And it’s here to stay:

Over 130 colleges have varsity esports programs, according to the National Association of Collegiate Sports, with most offering scholarships to attract the best talent. With brands like Disney, Amazon, Coke, and Nike investing billions in the space, it’s clear that esports will be part of the Generation Z experience for decades to come.

We created Lost Tribe Esports to give teens a chance to play the games they love in a Jewish environment. This builds on a long tradition of sports, camps and more in the Jewish community – meeting kids where they are to engage them in the community. Our founder, leaders and supporters are steeped in this experience and tradition.

Lost Tribe Esports is a safe platform for Jewish teens to connect with each other through video game competition—in a fun environment informed by Jewish values. We are a nonprofit organization, leveraging the popularity of gaming to bring teens together and foster positive Jewish identity and friendships. 

With generous support from JumpSpark, and in conjunction with the Marcus JCC and The Weber School, Lost Tribe Esports is launching in Atlanta this fall, with a series of online tournaments and in-person events.

How we keep things fun and safe:

  • We combine virtual, play-from-home tournaments with in-person social/gaming events, leading teens toward real, in-person friendships with Jewish peers.
  • We do not play “shooter” games. We play sports-based, strategy, and fantasy games like NBA2K, Minecraft, Super Smash Bros., Rocket League, etc. 
  • All communications in our online events are monitored by an adult
    staff person.
  • Our code of conduct is informed by Jewish values; participants are expected to act like a mensch.

To learn more about Lost Tribe Esports and to see our latest schedule of Atlanta-area events, please visit our website LostTribeEsports.org, or contact Lenny44@LostTribeEsports.org.

We look forward to working with families throughout Atlanta and welcome your questions and input. Together, we will offer teens a great new gaming experience, as they build Jewish friendships to last a lifetime. •

Upcoming Lost Tribe Esports events:

Related Stories

Amplify Israel Spring 2022 Project: Books with Jewish Representation
March 30, 2022

Amplify Israel Spring 2022 Project: Books with Jewish Representation

By Hannah Tourial & Oria Yosef
When a person thinks about Judaism represented in literature,they often think of Holocaust books. Many of these books are incredible and definite must-reads. However, sometimes we could all use a more modern Jewish story that...
Continue Reading
A Day in a Life as an Israeli Teenager
March 16, 2022

A Day in a Life as an Israeli Teenager

By Oria Yosef
Hi! My name is Oria Yosef, I’m 11th grader and I live in Yokneam Illit.  My day starts at school at 8:30 and sometimes I study on zoom. My two majors are physics and biology....
Continue Reading
Amplify Israel: Teen Music Playlist 2022
March 9, 2022

Amplify Israel: Teen Music Playlist 2022

By Chloe Hutt & Lidor Itach
Our project is to show each other what songs we like as well as songs that will represent our countries and their cultures. We decided to make a playlist: 5 songs from each country. Click here...
Continue Reading
Lupercalia Celebration
March 2, 2022

Lupercalia Celebration

By Bess Needle
At my school, I’m taking Latin as a language and I’m in the club for it called JCL. (Junior classical League(Otherwise known as Latin Club). Recently we had an event called Lupercalia, basically Rome’s Valentine’s...
Continue Reading
A Day in My Life
March 2, 2022

A Day in My Life

By Eyal Amzaleg
Hello, my name is Eyal Amzaleg and I’ll be telling you about a day in my life, so lets get started. The first thing I do is wake up at 6:45 to take a cold...
Continue Reading
My Gap Year Journey
February 28, 2022

My Gap Year Journey

By Matthew Aftergut
I’ve recently begun my journey into Jerusalem after 4 months in Tel Aviv. Through the months in Tel Aviv I learned about the differences of culture, ecological aspects in industrial cities, and how to manage...
Continue Reading