DON'T BE AFRAID TO INNOVATE From Hobby To Career.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)

Byline: Linda Stockman-Vines

8 When Angel Munoz was a child, his father said to him: "When you go to a park, do you ever see a statue of a critic? It's the innovators who are recognized. Don't compromise your dreams because of what people tell you."

Since the late 1990s, Munoz, now 41, has been following his dad's advice. He left a comfortable job as an investment banker and in 1997 turned his computer gaming hobby into the Dallas-based Cyberathlete Professional League. Today, the league's primary partners are Intel and Logitech.

Each year the league sponsors "live" computer game competitions in which more than 3,000 "cyberathletes" in 30 countries take part.

Reaching For The New Breed

What's a "cyberathlete?" It's a word Munoz coined "to describe my vision of a new breed of athlete, unrestricted by the limitations of natural laws and master of the virtual competition arenas created by computer games," he told gammer.net in May 2000.

"If you go to the root of the word "athlete,' you'll find that it's Greek for competitor," Munoz said in a recent interview. The pro-gamers who compete at league events use the keyboard and mouse to control their players on a large-screen, video-projected playing field -- and they earn big bucks when they win.