GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- Some sports work out the legs, the arms and the core.
For others, it's all about the thumbs.
"I've got kids [and] I know they're playing a lot of video games," City of Green Bay recreation supervisor Jeremy Crees said. "I know it's a popular sport. It's really growing."
And Green Bay Parks and Recreation is powering up this spring.
Locals can sign up to go head-to-head against other members of the community online in games like 'Fortnite' and 'Super Smash Brothers'. It's safe, and social.
"It's a great opportunity to still interact with other people," Crees said. "It's obviously not in person, so you get that opportunity to still compete with people."
Forrest Pelky hosts his own video gaming tournaments at Edge VR Arcade & Gamers Lounge in Green Bay.
"The [in esports] interest is here already," Pelky said. "It's just that the City of Green Bay is gonna bring it to so many more people that maybe hadn't known about it."
Pelky says plenty of Northeast Wisconsinites have interest in esports. And a league like the one Green Bay is introducing gives people a platform to play.
"There's so much social opportunities, particularly in esports," Pelky said. "You get to know so many people that have the same mindset as you."
But the avid player believes gaming gets a bad rap sometimes, and some don't consider it a sport.
"They've known somebody or have heard something that paints it in a negative picture when there's so much positive about it," Pelky said.
Whether you're playing softball or video games, it's all the same to Pelky.
"The great entertain the average," he said. "So video games are definitely a sport because that's exactly what's happening."
