Team Paria's owner explains why his UK League of Legends team has disbanded

Team Infused, FM-eSports, Choke Gaming, Exertus Esports… it’s disheartening to list the teams that have quit competitive League of Legends in the UK over the past year.
Now another name has sadly been added to the list: Team Paria’s UK roster has fallen apart.
While the organisation may not have enjoyed the kind of success that some of the aforementioned teams did over the past few years, Paria impressed on a different front. The organisation had a togetherness, spirit and level of sportsmanship unmatched by many of their contemporaries.
Having met them briefly at Insomnia58 and seen their friendship and camaraderie in person, our admiration for the organisation only increased.
While the team played in season 2 of the ESL UK Premiership, they failed to requalify for the tournament since. Meanwhile, some of their players like Master tier mid-laner Vicksy have been making waves in the scene. She announced her departure from the team today:

Hello everyone, I am no longer a member of @TeamParia. I wish everyone the best of luck!

— Vicksy (@VicksyLoL) September 26, 2016

So why did Paria’s UK LoL team fall apart? Ironically, it turns out their closeness actually played a part.
Stefan “ioswitch” Heesters, owner of Team Paria (pictured, centre), explained to eSports News UK: “The UK roster collapsed due to not everyone putting in the same effort as others, personal issues and the lack of openness towards each other, due to everyone being too close and being afraid to hurt each others’ feelings.
“Other reasons were that one player wanted to join a better team and our star player got noticed by the ‘big shots’ in the UK scene. One of our players actually quit LoL because the team fell apart and isn’t motivated anymore to find a new team.
“There have been some issues after LAN as it’s so common in any eSports scene that I tried to overcome. If a player is afraid to speak out about another player in a constructive or any way at all, you know it’s a matter of time that the bubble will burst.”
 

“I tried everything in my capabilities to help this team, investing a lot of hours into everyone through good and bad times, but after a year of this whole UK project, I don’t know really how to feel.”

 
There’s a lesson in there somewhere. Criticism done poorly is arguably not beneficial to any eSports team, but is it worse to say nothing at all?
Looking back on his time within the UK scene, Stefan added: “The whole UK project was an interesting ride that got started when we managed to qualify for ESL UK Premiership back in the summer of 2015 – season 2 – after taking the Major Ladder by storm and pulling through during the Promotions, but collapsed as soon as the start of the group stages.
“I thought that with my involvement with this team and the friendship that was developed within the team, there were great things ahead for us. I have always been thinking about the long term, so after not qualifying for ESL UK Premiership twice, I still believed in that.
“Reaching the top eight of Insomnia58 was a goal, but everyone was still disappointed because they lost against a team they normally had no trouble beating. In the groups they had a chance to upset TCA who managed to finish second, but we couldn’t finish.
“We got coaches and analysts on board to work on this, but after being unable to find a top-laner quickly after Insomnia, the whole UK team was kind of crumbling and apparently there was no way to stop it.”
 

“If a player is afraid to speak out about another player in a constructive or any way at all, you know it’s a matter of time that the bubble will burst.”

 
Stefan commented: “I tried everything in my capabilities to help this team, investing a lot of hours into everyone through good and bad times, but after a year of this whole UK project, I don’t know really how to feel.
“I mean the whole ride was interesting and there were some roadblocks we overcame, but in the end the results weren’t as great as both parties hoped for, and external factors that came along didn’t really help out either.
“I am unsure if I should invest any more time in the UK scene even though I genuinely enjoyed Insomnia58 with everyone and the drive of people inside the UK, I’m not really that keen on finding a new UK roster any time soon.”

New beginnings in Benelux

It’s not all doom and gloom. Team Paria is dusting itself down and focusing on a different territory going forward: Benelux.
The org’s Benelux League of Legends team finished third at The Reality last weekend – Netherland’s biggest LAN event. They have also qualified for the ESL Benelux Championship.
“We got a Benelux roster a few weeks ago and they managed to qualify for the ESL Benelux Championship and finished third at The Reality XVII LAN this weekend – and I think it’s better to focus on that instead.
“The future plan for Team Paria is that we remain active in LoL, WoT and MKX, but also get back into CSGO again soon.
“And for me personally, I think getting personally attached as much as I did to the UK roster doesn’t really mean anything in the end, if problems occur in a team that are beyond repair, people go their own way regardless.
“I thought my personal involvement was always a big strength of Team Paria as a whole, but now I have to question that.”
Godspeed Team Paria UK, and thanks for the memories.

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.