Published on July 07, 2026
Franklin County Board of Commissioners I Franklin County Office on Aging
A gaming program the county started to fight senior isolation during the pandemic is now sending a team to compete against another country.
Deputy County Administrator Joy Bivens told commissioners July 7 that Franklin County seniors have been invited to represent the United States in an international esports competition, the 2026 Global Esports Games in Los Angeles this December. There, they will face Senior Team Belgium in Rocket League, a car soccer video game with a national competitive following.
The program traces back to a 2024 resolution funding senior participation in gaming, developed in response to the U.S. Surgeon General's 2023 declaration that social isolation among older adults amounts to a public health crisis. That pilot grew into LevelUpLand, a weekly gathering where Franklin County seniors compete and connect with grandchildren, nieces, and cousins through shared gameplay. Bivens said the program was built around three goals: digital health, digital literacy, and digital equity, with the gaming itself as the vehicle for reaching them.
LevelUpLand is run through Health-e-Gamer Foundation, a national nonprofit led by Dr. Melita Moore, who also chairs the coordination commission for the Los Angeles Games. The Franklin County Office on Aging is listed among the initiative's foundational partners alongside the Board of Commissioners, connecting a local senior services program to what organizers are billing as the return of esports to the country that helped invent it, timed to the 250th anniversary of American independence.
The team now competing under the name Senior Esports USA has moved through months of structured development. Players spent the spring learning Rocket League fundamentals, then entered a development phase in May with coaching and wellness education layered in. This August, organizers will narrow the roster to 8 to 10 players who will train through the fall before traveling to Los Angeles in December.
Session Date: July 7, 2026
Resolution: N/A
Vote: N/A