LEVEL UP your performance with Guild Esports' psychology expert

Edgar Chekera is the Performance Manager for Guild Esports, helping its competitors perform better both in and out of competition.

He has taken the time to chat to us about his role at Guild and how he strives to help athletes reach their goals both in and out of competition.

Some of these tips will be applicable to you too, so keep reading for how to take your performance to the next level!

Who is Edgar Chekera?

Edgar Chekera is the Performance Manager at Guild Esports, and has previously worked at other esports organisations including Fnatic, Excel, Manchester City, AS Roma, and Hashtag United.

His work has taken him across various games in the esports world such as DOTA 2, FIFA, Fortnite, and League of Legends.

Chekera has also worked in traditional sports for groups, such as OPUS (Optimal Performance Utilising Sport), Finchley & District ABC, and 12 Rounds Boxing, whilst also competing in a variety of sports too incluidng Rugby, Football, and Basketball to name a few.

With a MSc (Distinction) Applied Sport Psychology degree and BSc (1st Class) Sport & Exercise Psychology degree from the University of Chichester, Chekera is already making his mark in the esports industry.

Building the basics

Having worked in traditional sports in the past, Chekera understands that there are discrepancies between the fundamental skills learned earlier on in life.

“In traditional sports, you have athletes who've grown up with an interest in traditional sports so that means they normally do PE courses,” he says.

“Within PE you start learning about the psychology behind it like goal setting, imagery, self-talk, etc.

“However, in esports, because they might not be inclined to want to play those traditional sports, they wouldn't have done PE, which means that they don't even have that foundational level of these mental skills.”

This is no issue, but it does mean there is more ground to be gained in these areas, something Gscience co-founder Ryan Scollan has previously mentioned to us.

While professional football teams will be looking at the finest margins trying to gain that extra 1%, esports teams for now can focus on the “low hanging fruit” to make huge strides.

This is something you can do at home too, and it can be as simple as creating a more comfortable playing space and drinking lots of water.

Mental health matters

Something Chekera spoke passionately on is the mental health and wellbeing of the athletes within esports, and how this area of the sport is underfunded.

“They don't invest in these different resources that they can have; they don't invest in constant nutritionists that are available on a week-by-week basis or investing in having a physio, or even helping the players and young people develop their mindsets in that way,” he said.

“We have a wellbeing and safeguarding lead within Guild who has been vital in terms of making sure that the players' mental health is alright.

“We don't just say mental health matters. We have someone in place that can deal with that and help that.

“We're focusing on the betterment of these players, and we're focusing on helping them become better people in that way, which is why I actually joined in the first place because I don't like lip service.”

Preventing injuries

While we know about the common injuries of traditional sports, the possible injuries of esports athletes are often ignored until they occur.

Eyestrain, neck pain and back pain are all common among esports athletes, and Chekera explains that is an aspect of the field that needs improving, and fast.

“People are more reactive than proactive, so they only wait until there's an injury to seek support."

Guild runs weekly sessions for their athletes, teaching them the different disciplines of sports science and how to apply them in their everyday lives.

Preventative strategies can be implemented even for the amateur gamer, so it is something to think about before your next Weekend League session in FIFA 22 or Call of Duty: Warzone marathon!

“If your body is not right, if it doesn't feel right, you'll be focusing on it a lot more when you're playing,” he explains.

“A lot of times, negative thoughts, negative feelings, and negative physical feelings can distract us from the task.”

So while an injury may not prevent you from playing, it may subconsciously be distracting you and preventing you from reaching your potential.

Is this something you are aware of? Some simple stretching a regular movements during gaming sessions can greatly improve concentration levels.

Nutritional value

You may think nutrition for esports athletes would be irrelevant, but as Chekera explains nutrition is not just about getting athletes in great shape.

“We focus more on food to help your cognitive function, to help you mentally process, to help you stay awake, attentive,” he said.

“I didn't know the importance of omega-3 with brain function in the aspect of the different use of vitamins, but we do keep it simple because we also tell them [Guild athletes], we're not looking to make you stacked up and lean as possible.”

Eating the right foods for a competition can make the world of difference, particularly in concentration levels.

“Some of these guys compete for around eight hours, I know I've sat in it and I've felt tired, let alone played the game.”

Keep it clean

We all know how frustrating gaming can be at times, but there are ways to deal with that frustration before it negatively affects your performance… or ends up with a broken controller.

“There's this analogy of clean pain and dirty pain,” explains Chekera.

“So clean pain is something natural. Just a small bit of frustration that's going to happen if you lose the game, you can be a little bit frustrated or annoyed.

“Dirty pain is a result of judging that experience more, so valuing like, ‘oh, this should never happen, this game is so bad, blah, blah.'"

“So, what I normally tell people is to notice when you've transitioned from clean pain to dirty pain, and then it's that role of acceptance.”

This does require some levels of self-control but is certainly manageable… until one of these FIFA 22 glitches happens of course.

Challenges of lockdown

Like most of us over the past 18 months, Chekera has also faced problems while working remotely and trying to help his athletes.

“I can't see how they're responding, I can't see their facial expressions, that makes it a lot harder for me to be like, okay, they need something at this point,” explain Chekera when discussing the difficulties of analysing athletes from home during competition.

“For example, I can't see if somebody is rolling their eyes, so because I don't know that it makes it harder for me to know how to interject, but hopefully with LANs which are coming soon, so competitions in person, then I can be of more use and act accordingly.”