On Saturday 27th August 2022, I had the honor of competing on the new Esports Stage at Insomnia Gaming Festival. Never in a million years did I expect an invitation to play in a showmatch… especially not a full female roster, but when Billie (@billieidk) asked if I wanted to play, I jumped at the chance!
Team Winteriio: Winteriio, Mistiare, Navy, Billieidk, Cavade (me)
Team Juggler: Juggler, Txsha, Koneko, Lliandra, JorangeJam
- First Map: PEARL – our team pick (oh no)
- Second Map: SPLIT – their team pick (YAY SPLIT)
- Decider: ICEBOX (not too bad)
On the day, my anxiety-filled body dreaded the walkout onto the stage, but the moment I saw such a packed audience, it was an exhilarating moment. I knew the women’s valorant scene was a big community but to see faces in the crowd filled with excitement and interest was a real pinch-me moment.
Despite how awful the first game went for me personally, it was great to play in such a wholesome, empowering environment. Everyone competing was so motivational and positive, even if I was playing badly it didn’t matter, as we were having a great time.
Unfortunately, after a shaky start, we did lose 5-13 to Team Juggler. But get me back on a Killjoy set on Split and there was no stopping me… When Split was removed from regular unrated and competitive queues, I could have cried. Split is my favourite map to play “ratty killjoy” and I finally started popping up on the scoreboard. We took the second map 13-5 meaning we went to the decider in the best of three – Icebox.
Whoever invented ‘agent roulette’ was a genius but also a menace to society. All in agreement, both teams hovered over Jett and when our agents randomly were allocated, a small part of all of us wanted to cry. I got Skye… an agent I have used in total maybe twice?! But somehow the new agent play style worked, and I played so confidently. We all played amazingly, resulting in Team Winteriio picking up the win!
Why do I think tournaments for women are important?
There is a visible ratio of women to male professional players. The professionals at the highest level are almost exclusively male. Despite studies showing that women comprise 35% of esports players in 2019, only 5% were professional players, which allows us to conclude women players rarely compete at the high tier level of esports (Rogstad, 2022).
I believe that tournaments for Female & Marginalised Genders are important as they offer huge benefits for the esports ecosystem as we aim to make esports a more welcoming and inclusive space. They create opportunities and offer resources for women esports talent/players to gain opportunities and recognition in the space – and instill role models to the younger generation. Tournaments should change the visible ratio and highlight that F&MG players deserve this recognition and appreciation in the professional player scene.
Women in Esports Manager, Billie, asked me to send some words on my experience of the i69 showmatch. After reminiscing on the day, I summarised it like this:
“When I think back to the Women in Esports Showmatch, there isn’t a combination of words that can explain the experience entirely. Being given the opportunity to play against and with some incredible Game Changers players and talent in the industry was an honour and made me feel so exhilarated and proud of how far the industry has come. I will, however, forever forget about my performance in the first map, but the feeling of playing as a team and winning was an unforgettable, huge achievement overall. It was a step to providing positive role models for young female and marginalised gendered individuals and displaying the diversity of the esports’ industry.”
I asked Squad of Aces Blaze Captain, Koneko, for her Experience at LAN. Her response was:
“It was great, the initial walk-up to the stage and seeing it for the first time was very scary, thinking about being on it with a lot of people watching me, but once it all got started I realised that it wasn’t that bad and was actually really exciting. I even tripped over on stage in between games at one point (luckily stream was on a break) which was quite funny.
Overall it was really fun and because of it, I also got to meet so many people in real life that I had only ever spoken to online, which was a bit weird at first but after talking a bit, was just the same as online haha.”
Thank you Billie & Women in Esports for the opportunity – I hope we can do it again one day… Check out their Twitter (@WomenIn_Esports) to find out all about their amazing work AND their two award nominations!
Until next time, stay positive & groovy! ~ Cavade
Thank you to Dom Sacco, Esports News UK, for proof reading this blog post and correcting the many punctuation errors!
Further Reading:
Cavade 