What is the Equal Esports Initiative?
The Equal Esports Initiative aims to promote equality, diversity and thus also inclusion in esports in the long term. The initiative was launched by Deutsche Telekom, SK Gaming and the esports player foundation 2021 and initially consists of 4 main strands:
- The promotion of female and non-binary Esports talent by the esports player foundation
- The creation of the Equal Esports Council
The foundation of SK Avarosa - The initiation of the annual Equal Esports Festival
- The promotion of female and non-binary Esports talent through the esports player foundation
- The creation of the Equal Esports Council
- The foundation of SK Avarosa
- The initiation of the annual Equal Esports Festival
What are the ways in which female and non-binary Esports talents are supported by epf?
In the first year, the esports player foundation supported 10 female and non-binary League of Legends players.
The support included all components of the esports player foundation, including ingame coaching, sports psychological support, regular fitness training, hardware support, a mentor program and much more. This included two 7-day boot camps, in which the talents were to internalize important routines for their career as a competitive athlete.
In the second year of the Equal Esports Initiative, the promotion of female and non-binary talents was expanded to include the Esports title “Brawl Stars” and more talents were added. In total, 14 League of Legends and 4 Brawl Stars talents will be supported in the second year of the Equal Esports Initiative.
What is the Equal Esports Council?
The Equal Esports Council is responsible for providing strategic direction, steering actions, and overseeing the implementation of Equal Esports talent development. It acts as a kind of supervisory board that always acts for the benefit of the talent.
The Equal Esports Council is composed of successful women from Esports, gaming and business. They actively support the talents as mentors, regularly meet virtually as well as physically and try to constantly advance equality and diversity in Esports.
Learn more about the Equal Esports Council here.
What is the story behind SK Avarosa?
In the first year of the Equal Esports Initiative, SK Gaming created a League of Legends team consisting of female and non-binary individuals “SK AVAROSA”. The team participated in the Strauss Prime League and achieved great success there.
In the second year, the Brawl Stars title was added.
What is the Equal Esports Festival?
Together with the Equal Esports Initiative, the “Equal Esports Festival” was also initiated, which takes up precisely these topics such as equality, inclusion and diversity and incorporates them into an exciting program consisting of education but also entertainment. This took place for the first time in 2021 in Berlin and was very well received, so that it could take place again in 2022 in Cologne.
More information about the festival can be found here.