Meet the 63-Year-Old CS:GO Player Who Competes in Tournaments and Supports NAVI
When it comes to CS:GO, age is nothing but a number!
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There is no age associated with gaming, especially when it comes to a classic shooter like CS:GO. A 63-year-old player from Ukraine, Oleg, is breaking down stereotypes about competitive gaming being useless and an activity that can only be enjoyed by the younger generation.
The NAVI fan who has been actively playing the game for more than three years now is not just another CS:GO player, but also competes in tournaments with his team - Ageless Shooters, where all the players are above the age of 60.
In a recent interview with YouTube channel TUT.BY, Oleg opened up about his experience in CS:GO, how he started playing the game, his time competing with the team, and the benefits of playing at his age.
63-year-old CS:GO player shares his experience playing the game, competing at events, and how it benefits him
63-year-old Oleg is a graduate from the Medical Academy who served in the Navy as a military doctor. At that point in time he was not familiar with CS:GO. He was later introduced to the game when his kids were in their teens. Now, he is part of a team called 'Ageless Shooters' with whom he goes around competing in tournaments.
Talking about how he started playing the game Oleg said,
When my kids were in high school, I noticed that they were playing some kind of a shooting game. I basically told them to do other things as I did not like that they were wasting time sitting in front of the computer all the time. I hid the power cord from them, to prevent them for playing CS:GO. It was back then that I had gotten acquainted to Counter-Strike.Oleg - Interview with TUT.BY
As for how he got into the senior citizen CS:GO team, Oleg said that it was in 2019 that he came across an announcement that all those who wished to compete in an esports team could submit their application.
I applied. In total about 20 of us came, out of which eight were selected - three women and five men. At that point in time I was 60-years-old. We actively trained for two months to compete in an event at the comic-con. Two teams from Ukraine and Sweden consisting of retired esports players went against eachother, they lost '16-1'.Oleg - Interview with TUT.BY
Being from a military background, it was initially difficult for Oleg to aim in the game as he was used to aiming down the iron sight. During the two-month training, he learned how to aim using the digital crosshair and has continued to grow with each passing day.
During the interview he revealed that in the last 90 days (three months) he had played 218 games of which he had managed to win 117 matches, lose 86 of them, and draw the remaining 15.
To all those that think gaming is just a waste of time and nothing good will ever come out of it, Oleg goes on to say that,
People of the same age relate to my hobby in different ways. We are already living in a new time, talking about how good it was 20-30 years ago is a wrong way to approach it. Such a person lives in the past and we live in the present, we live in a 'computer world'. People of our age who work with a computer, live a full modern life. Every person needs to keep up with the times.Oleg - Interview with TUT.BY
Playing CS:GO has helped Oleg interact better with his children, helping him connect with them virtually while enjoying the game together. Personally, he feels that playing the game has helped him develop micro motor skills, imagination, and memory, things that would have deteriorated with age. Additionally, it has also helped him develop and master new computer terms and technology.
While there are a lot of pros, the only negative that he could think about was the amount of time that needs to be invested in order to learn and master CS:GO.
Oleg concludes his interview by making the following statement,
Anyone who plays CS:GO at the age of 63 is a person of the 21st century. The game and this age are absolutely compatible. It's a link between generations.Oleg - Interview with TUT.BY
Oleg and his team support NAVI, they even cheered for the Ukrainian organization during their run through the PGL Major Stockholm 2021. His team tries to recreate some of the strats used by them but they don't always work out.
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