Is it good for you?

We regularly receive some excellent submissions to the community articles section of Fantasy Football Scoutfrom statistical analysis to Red Lightning’s mini-league summaries and everything in between.

In the following article, website regular Charlie Price not only praises the positive aspects Fantasy Premier League (FPL) but also you, the Fantasy Football Scout community.

I’ve often asked myself the question – why am I playing fantasy football? Do I know a lot about football? Not really. Many people have more knowledge than me. Do I want to win prizes? Well, it’s fun to win, but that’s not why I play.

The answer probably lies in the following.

wellbeing

Being able to interact and communicate with like-minded people through a shared interest in fantasy football is not only entertaining but also reassuring. For many, isolation during Covid has emphasized the need to have regular contact with other people, if only through the written word. I’m lucky not to live alone, but for those who aren’t so lucky, games like the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) give us a chance to talk to each other. Sites like Fantasy Football Scout have of course created their own forums that provide a platform for conversation.

pleasure

While communication is good in itself, it must be healthy to be spiritual and mutually beneficial. Most contributors to fantasy football forums respect others, and I hope we can all remember that while we don’t all share the same opinion, we can disagree without resorting to name calling. It saddens me when I visit some football club forums to find that a city is being described in particularly derogatory terms simply because it contains a football team that the poster does not support.

Fun in fantasy football is not only achieved through healthy interaction, but also through the thrill of realizing that your 1% forward has scored a few goals and you’ve managed him as the Triple Captain! On the other side of the coin, I captained a certain Watford forward in a double gameweek last season – and he got sent off in the first game. I didn’t lose sleep over this tragedy, just accepted it as part of fantasy football. You have to see the funny side of things even in adversity, that’s also my motto for dealing with life.

Reward

So what rewards do we get by playing this game? Well, most of us don’t win anything, so the quick answer wouldn’t be a reward at all. However, rewards come in different ways. Earlier this year I created a mini-league and invited participation through the Fantasy Football Scout pages.

The first two participants came from Antarctica and Australia. I call that a reward. The reward of playing a game with people from other continents that I would otherwise never have had contact with.

So why are we playing fantasy football? It’s good for us, it’s fun and entertaining to play, and it brings its own rewards that may not always be obvious.

Good luck to everyone out there and keep enjoying Fantasy Football!