While on a leave of absence following heart surgery, Frisco resident Saurabh Aggarwal said he had a lot of free time and started considering ways to follow his passion.

“I’m passionate about bringing more education and activities into kids’ lives,” Aggarwal said. “I was researching what kind of activities ... and I came across esports as something that is upcoming, and there was nothing in Frisco like that.”

Aggarwal and his wife Rupasri Aggarwal opened a franchise of XP League in January 2024. They started out at The Nest Cafe in Frisco then, due to a need for more space, moved to their current location on Main Street in April.

The backstory

Jay Melamed started XP League in 2020 and it was later purchased by Unleashed Brands, which also own Urban Air Adventure Park, Sylvan Learning, The Little Gym and others.


XP League is the little league of esports and the first Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) coach-led competitive gaming league in North America, according to the company website states.

The set up

Gregory Bunch is the league commissioner and as such he acts as the general manager and is one of six coaches.

“My passion is esports,” Bunch said. “I knew that I wanted to make it my career.”


Players are divided into divisions based on skill levels following a coach-led assessment.

“Our program is structured basically the same as any youth sports program would be,” Bunch said. “Kids are on a team, they have a coach, and they're learning the same soft skills that you would learn in soccer—teamwork, communication, how to deal with frustrations between teammates or with yourself, how to overcome these emotions and work as a team.”

The details

Players are typically onsite for two hours, the first hour is for practice and the second is devoted to competition. The year is broken up into four seasons culminating in the North American finals in the summer.


“The competition is really an important thing here at XP. They're not playing random people, they're playing other kids at other XP League locations,” Bunch said. “They're all kids around their skill level, around their age range, That's really important for parents to know.”

Games played at XP League include Fortnite, Minecraft, Valorant, Overwatch, Rocket League, League Legends and Apex.

“We have three divisions playing Fortnite,” Bunch said. “We have our silver, gold and platinum divisions. Silver is for kids who are new to competition, they're still working on a lot of their skills ... like building, which is a very important skill.”

Who's it for?


Aggarwal said programs are offered for ages 7 to 17 and added the majority of their players are between 10 and 14 years old. Bunch said parents' gaming knowledge ranges from passionate gamers to those who want to learn more about the gaming world.

“I grew up in a house where my parents didn't understand [gamers],” Bunch said. “Some of the most rewarding conversations are getting to talk to parents and help them see that this is not just their kids wasting time sitting on the couch but there are real skills and lessons they can draw from playing these games, and especially in an esport team setting.”

Quote of note

Aggarwal said he finds happiness filling this void for the gamer community in Frisco.


“This is a community which has not been addressed, whether it is coaches or kids,” Aggarwal said. “It gives me a lot of satisfaction being a part of something where coaches and teams have found their spot where they belong.”