For Parents

The Gold Star Gamers Program

As parents, we always want the best for our kids and it’s hard to watch them when they are sad, no more so than when they are grieving the loss of a loved one and have lost hope. Sometimes kids need unique ways to be able to express their feelings. This is what Gold Star Gamers can offer, along with connection, healing, hope and confidence. You probably know that Gold Star Families are those who’s loved one died while on active military duty. This is where we get our name from. But we use a more liberal definition, allowing for the loss of anyone who served in the military, active duty or not at the time of death.

Your child will know they are not alone in their grief, but they will also be able to have fun in the process, and have something to look forward to. This helps them find a reason to keep moving forward. Most of all, they get a chance to remember their loved one and process their sadness while healing. It’s easy to sign-up.

How Gold Star Gamers Works

1. Kids or their parent/guardian sign-up for an event or summer camp.
2. Camps are taught over summer by college-age pro gamers. They in turn get credits towards college expenses.Camps are divided by age and kids get better at gaming and “level-up” for the esports competition.
3. For competitions, kids are first connected with a safe military gamer from the same branch of the military as their parent or loved one. (Note: We background check all people who will be in contact with your child).
4. The military gamer and child team will build a bond over a few live or virtual meetings and game playing, where they get to know each other as they speak the same gaming language.
5. On competition day, each team from the designated military branch will play against each other to get to a final match. The number of teams may vary and are organized by age.
6. The game is played online and could be Fortnight or another game.
7. On the same competition day, another group of kids and mentors from a different branch of military are playing each other in another gaming room.
8. The winning team from each one of two branches of the military will go on to compete on special team for a cash prize that will be donated to a charity that helps Gold Star families or kids, which is preselected (such as TAPS—Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, USO, Mt. Carmel Center of Excellence, and Warrior Gamer Foundation).
9. The final teams are made up of the winning kid, their military gamer and a volunteer professional gamer.
10. The competition is played live online and will attract kids and gamers from across the country and globe to watch.

Win or lose, kids are part of a team, and will learn new skills to build resilience for a lifetime, while finding healthy ways to process their grief and remember their parent or loved one.