Guild Esports has unveiled its inaugural Rocket League Boost Championship, a women-only “grassroots league” for women gamers who want to become professional esports athletes.
In partnership with Sky Broadband–the U.K.’s second-largest internet provider–Guild, the David Beckham-backed squad that currently operates all-female teams in Valorant and CS:GO, hopes to double down on its commitment to diversity in esports with its new Rocket League competition.
Four elite European teams will be invited to compete in the Boost Championship, with four more places available to those that earn a place via open qualifiers, which Guild is hosting from August 5. To foster extra support for new faces on the women’s Rocket League scene, Guild will broadcast a roundup show, highlighting the biggest moments and matches from each week.
Guild, which highlighted how less than 2% of 2022’s Rocket League competitions were targeted toward women gamers, has committed itself to encouraging greater representation from women and marginalized genders. It hopes to offer “a fully staffed and org-supported competition” by installing safeguarding procedures such as drafting women and non-binary staff to run the competition.
Jasmine Skee, the CEO of Guild Esports, said: “Boost Championship is just one of our many ongoing commitments alongside our partner Sky Broadband, to the development of women’s esports, and to making the Sky Guild Gaming Centre a safe space for diverse gamers of all backgrounds.”
In May, Guild highlighted the issues faced by female players in a campaign that placed male gamers in an immersive and somewhat surreal environment, which encouraged both positive vibes and inevitable whataboutery in equal measure. God forbid you try to do something supportive in 2023.
More details about the Rocket League Boost Championship’s competing teams and matchups will be announced ahead of the first league broadcast on August 25; in the meantime, fans can keep up to date via Guild’s Twitch and Twitter (or X? That still doesn’t sound right. I’m gonna stick with Twitter for the foreseeable).
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