Strumpan

Women in Esports / ESL Impact / Valve Regional Rankings "Girls are dumb!" Yes, that's the phrase every boy in third grade once said. Back when we didn’t understand that soccer wasn’t just for boys. After all, boys are faster and stronger—everything girls supposedly aren’t. It’s been about 20 years since that moment, and only in the past few years of being involved in esports have I truly come to understand how wrong we were back then. Female Esports Players Veer Off Early Women in esports don’t have it easy. There aren’t any physical barriers in the traditional sense. For example, in Counter-Strike, you don’t need to run 100 meters in under ten seconds. Esports is free from these extreme physical demands, as its challenges lie on a different level. Many argue that there are no obstacles left: women can do everything in esports just as men can. The mantra is allegedly to "play your way up." Hard training at a young age and at least ten hours per day are common expectations. Training, training, training—it sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Yet, aspiring female esports players often veer off the path before they even have a chance to get there. Women are categorized on servers and immediately ostracized, sexualized, insulted, and sometimes even muted because of their voices. This silencing is often followed by insults from male players: “Shut up! - go B, because that’s where the kitchen is, and that’s where you belong.” “You’re so bad, wh*re.” "We can forfeit, we have a girl on our team." “All girls are all bad.” I don’t think I need to list more examples. Both women and men know exactly what I’m talking about. And before gamers start with their rebuttals: yes, men also get insulted—often just as harshly. However, we rarely find ourselves cornered in a one-versus-four—or worse, a one-versus-nine—situation, with our backs against the wall facing up to 9 opponents. I’ve repeatedly noticed that some men don’t want to share “their sport” with female gamers. Even prominent figures in the CS scene have often revealed their opinions when the ESL Impact tournament series was introduced: “It’s not fair to Tier 2 or Tier 3 teams that this league offers so much prize money and exposure.” “Team X would wipe the floor with that women’s team, 16-0, haha.” You know the drill. Why We Need ESL Impact / Female Tournaments and give them a shot with the Valve Regional Rankings Let me give you some food for thought on why we need these leagues. The skill gap everyone keeps talking about does exist, of course. No woman is currently claiming to compete at the absolute Tier 1 level. But a simple calculation will show why this might be the case. Roughly 80-90% of the Counter-Strike community is male. How many of them make it to the Tier 1 or Tier 2 level? Very few, right? Now add the 10-20% of women to that, and the math will solve itself—it’s significantly fewer at this stage. If there are no physical obstacles, wouldn’t it be great if the path to becoming a professional were more attractive for women? Grinding has to be fun because the road to becoming a pro is incredibly tough. The female players in the ESL Impact League for example are certainly willing to take that journey. Sure, they may not have 3,000 ELO or 20,000 hours logged in CS yet. But what isn’t yet can still become. Right? The Impact League isn’t the ESL Pro League or BLAST Premier. It’s not Tier 1 Counter-Strike at its pinnacle but rather an event and a circuit designed to serve as a role model for other female gamers. Why can’t many men accept that female esports won’t take a piece of “their cake”? It remains your Counter-Strike. For female players, there will be no shortcut to getting signed by a Tier 1 team and playing on every Major stage skipping every qualification . But within their circuit—free from external hindrances—they can encourage other women to take the same step and use the earned prize money to strengthen their ambitions further. Walking the path to becoming a professional, just like everyone else. And perhaps in a few years, we won’t need a separate format anymore. Instead, the CS scene will include many amazing and, above all, skilled women in the general pro circuit, eventually competing on equal footing with men. A Tier 1 team winning a Major with a mixed lineup? That’s still unimaginable but could be the next big step, opening a whole new world for esports. Many sports have tried to make competition attractive for women, often with limited success. Esports Could and Should Be a Trailblazer Esports could lead the way, as men and women could compete on equal footing. That’s why it’s so important to create conditions that inspire more women to take an interest in our beloved Sport. The ESL Impact League is an excellent platform to nurture talent and create role models. Consequently, the competitive female CS scene could grow and have a better chance of producing world-class players. Perhaps I don’t speak for everyone, but to me, that’s a beautiful vision. It doesn’t always have to be about competing against each other. For me its about supporting the success of others, even if you gain nothing from it. Female Counter-Strike, in my eyes, is still heading in the right direction, with the upcoming participation of @imperialesports FE at the @BLASTtv Bounty. This progress continues despite the recent loss of support from many organizations in ESL Impact, and I’m glad to see it. Additionally, @HLTVorg & @HLTVawards are doing their best to give our female player base the spotlight they deserve, even when facing resistance from the community. We need role models for others to follow, and maybe someday we'll have our first mixed lineup in Tier 1.