{"id":198164,"date":"2026-03-19T19:18:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/198164\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T19:18:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:18:06","slug":"seminole-co-mom-opens-esports-center-for-kids-to-game-safely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/198164\/","title":{"rendered":"Seminole Co mom opens esports center for kids to game safely"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Gaming has evolved over the years, from playing board games to computer games and now video games on the internet. According to a Pew Research Center survey<\/a>, 80% of teens think harassment over video games is a problem for people their age.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

According to a Pew Research Center survey, 80% of teens think harassment over video games is a problem for people their age
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A Seminole County mom wants her son to excel at esports, but in a safe environment, so she opened Valhallen Esports Training in Altamonte Springs
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Elementary, middle and high school students can grow their Esports skills in a safe environment
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As a part of the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in 17 counties in Central Florida, the Osceola County Sheriff\u2019s Office had more than 30 arrests alone in 2025<\/p>\n

Esports are sweeping the nation, but it has some parents unsure about how to let their kids safely play out their passion. The Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force says it\u2019s an uphill battle as technology is ever evolving. They have a team across Central Florida that works off cyber tips, averaging about 1 search warrant a week to help get offenders off the internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really engaging,\u201d said Kairan Kelsey, who loves to play video games. His favorite game is Valorant. \u201cI want to try to go professional, try to play at college level like at Full Sail,\u201d Kairan said.<\/p>\n

However, as he got more competitive, he became more aware of what\u2019s out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had been starting to stream and there are a lot of people that get into your chat and try to get your information,\u201d Kairan said.<\/p>\n

His parents talked to him about internet safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have always had a gaming out in the open policy,\u201d said Dani Kelsey, Kairan\u2019s mom.<\/p>\n

She took things one step further and opened Valhallan Esports training<\/a> in Altamonte Springs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are playing with teams that are here locally that are a part of our arena as their teammates, but they are having the opportunity to compete against teams from across the country,\u201d Dani said.<\/p>\n

Elementary, middle and high school students can grow their esports skills in a safe environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel secure\u2026they offer an environment that is very safe for young boys\u2026I am so behind with this whole thing, and I would rather have professional hold my hand to help him to achieve whatever this world can bring him,\u201d said Lian Deabreu, a mom who brings her son to Valhallan.<\/p>\n

It brings peace of mind for parents to know who is on the other end of the keyboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is fun to compete and play with other people\u2026you can actually see the person you are playing with,\u201d said Grayson Deabreu, who plays video games at Valhallan.<\/p>\n

Outside of a controlled environment, it can be a scary place. The Pew Research survey found that 41% of teens have been called an offensive name while gaming, 12% received physical threats, and 8% have been sent unwanted sexually explicit content.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all here to do the greater good, and we are here to protect children,\u201d said Sgt. Kyle Glynn from the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.<\/p>\n

There has been a steady increase in cyber tips since 2019, reaching nearly 28,000 tips in 2025. \u201cOn the gaming side, we see a lot of online enticement, so they start those conversations, they start the grooming, they build trust within the children, they find something in common,\u201d Sgt. Glynn said.<\/p>\n

There has been some progress with new federal laws requiring mandatory reporting, but there is a long way to go to crack down on companies complying with their investigations.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ultimate goal is to catch guys who are hands on in progress, bust down their door and arrest them,\u201d Glynn said.<\/p>\n

As part of the task force in 17 counties in Central Florida, the Osceola County Sheriff\u2019s Office had more than 30 arrests alone in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe obviously can\u2019t just live in fear all the time. However, just be mindful,\u201d Glynn said.<\/p>\n

Education is key to making sure parents and kids are in charge of the controller at all times. \u201cI think it is awesome that I have that opportunity and I am blessed,\u201d Kairan said.<\/p>\n

Esports arenas like the one in Altamonte Springs are starting to become a popular way to safely game for kids. Since that one opened in 2024, two others opened in Florida including in Orange City.<\/p>\n

Besides speaking with your kids or taking them to an esports arena, Glynn highly recommends \u201cBark.\u201d It is an app where parents can monitor content, get alerts, block websites and even track location. That way, parents are always in the know about what is happening on their child\u2019s devices.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Gaming has evolved over the years, from playing board games to computer games and now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1595,767,2031,2967,274,558,770,104,115,139,141,140,277,9429,1014,278],"class_list":["post-198164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-app-arts-entertainment","tag-app-community","tag-app-local-business","tag-app-public-safety","tag-app-top-stories","tag-business","tag-community-news","tag-entertainment","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-public-safety","tag-sarah-winkelmann","tag-seminole-county","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}