Last month Samatha “Tech Girl” Write, in partnership with Evetech and MettleState, announced the Valkyrie Challenge, an all-female showmatch between two of South Africa’s top teams. Amaryllis Gaming and Energy Esports go head-to-head tomorrow for R50,000 in a first ever showcase of what South African female players have to offer.
Women have been competing in various leagues for a number of years, and while most of them have joined up with their male friends, all-female teams have been something of a myth up until now. While these teams have existed, it’s taken a good few years for organisations to pick them up and usher in a new age of competition.
Both teams taking part of the Valkyrie Challenge have competed in various leagues within South Africa, but this will be the first time either team has been put in the spotlight for a match. Energy Esports announced their all-female team a few months ago, and since then they’ve been the subject of a number of initiatives put forward by Tech Girl, including her event which celebrated women in gaming which took place at the Nexus in Johannesburg. Not much is known about Amaryllis, but we’re excited to see what our women players have to offer in terms of skill and entertainment.
The #AcerForGaming event which celebrated women in gaming – image Tech Girl
MettleState have also put forward an impressive broadcast team which features George “Geemax” Smith and Matthew “Tiny” Lotter as commentators, while Sam “Tech Girl” Wright will host a panel with analysts Sharon “ShazZ” Waison and Ashton “Golz” Muller. Waison has competed at the highest level of competition in South Africa (in mixed teams) as well as international against other women at competitions like ESWC for the Karma (now Team Dignitas), which they won. Muller, on the other hand, has competed in some of the top teams in the country including Bravado Gaming during their unbeatable streak in 2016. He’s also the founder and owner of Goliath Gaming, a team which has been making headlines since their launch last month.
The action kicks off tomorrow at 13:00, and the official match starts at 15:00. Tickets for the live viewing are unfortunately all sold out, so if you pitch up at the event you without a ticket you’ll be asked kindly to leave and go home to enjoy it live on the MettleState Twitch channel.
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Last Updated: August 4, 2017
Frik van der Hewerskink
August 4, 2017 at 13:34
Very curious if people would see a competition that is only for men as sexist
Craig "CrAiGiSh" Dodd
August 4, 2017 at 13:40
Wamen jokes incoming !!!
JK – all the best to everyone involved this weekend.
Skittle
August 4, 2017 at 14:00
When it comes to gaming aren’t men and women on the same level? Why does there need to be an only female tournament?
Not hating on it. I’m just generally curious.
HvR
August 4, 2017 at 15:42
For the promotion of esports for women.
Being an area where they are not that well represented people will feel a bit intimated (? not sure if that is the right description) to participate. This presents them the opportunity to jump in on a larger scale for an event focused on them and then hopefully get hooked and move on to the larger events. In the end if there is wider field of participation is good for the sport in general acceptance, better sponsorship and better competition.
We do something similar for sport shooting that may be a model esports organization should also look into adopting. Where you have sub divisions in the main competition; juniors for under 18’s, women, seniors for over 65 etc. So everybody shoots together in competition for position in the different classes but those that qualify and chose to enter in sub division also effectively compete against each other at the same time for medals and slightly smaller prizes.
Nothing helps acceptance more and overcome any judgement and earns respect from a bunch of old school middle old school men like having 2 sister in their teens old get bronze and 4th place in the main competition division rankings at a national shoot.
Skittle
August 7, 2017 at 09:05
I noticed at Rush that there were some female players (teams) in the LoL comp, it looks to be working.
Magoo
August 4, 2017 at 14:34
Nah, I think it’s great. It’s a harmless push for inclusivity.