At the time of this article’s publication, ENUK’s editor Dom Sacco worked for the British Esports Federation (formerly the British Esports Association) full-time, so was not able to write about the organisation objectively. Dom left British Esports full-time in February 2021 and now produces its email newsletter on a freelance basis.
A tournament showcasing up and coming UK-based League of Legends talent will take place this month.
The UK Proving Grounds is an online competition featuring eight teams, revealed in full below.
Over the past weeks, players have been signing up to take part – and now the full list of participants has been revealed.
Esports News UK has provided £200 in prizes for the winning team, while British Esports has matched this to provide further funding, either for MVPs or the casters, bringing the funding up to £400.
It will be covered on the Esports News UK website and ENUK YouTube channel and shared across British Esports’ social channels and weekly email newsletter.
In return, the team are kindly naming the event the British Esports & ENUK Proving Grounds.
Matches will run from 6pm-10pm on November 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 25th, 26th, 27th and the final on 28th on Twitch here.
The initiative has been set up by Barrage team manager Richard ‘Froomie’ Froom, Enclave Gaming coach Alexander ‘Wise Traveller’ Wise and Sam ‘Manimal’ Newbould, who has worked with UK LoL teams in the past including Insomnia winners Vir Mortalis.
Froomie said:
“I’m delighted to have the backing of the British Esports Association and Esports News UK. They’re huge names in UK esports, and it’s fantastic to see them supporting grassroots League of Legends. It’s great that they’ve given us the opportunity to give something back to the players and casters for their efforts over the next two weeks, and we’re very thankful for that here at UKPG.”
Richard ‘Froomie’ Froom, UK Proving Grounds
Esports News UK editor and British Esports content director Dom Sacco added: “It’s great to give back to the UK League community by supporting a great community-driven grassroots project that could highlight the stars of tomorrow.
“I look forward to seeing the top plays of the tournament and some fun memes to crop up on Twitter.
“Good luck to all the players taking part and props to the team for doing this for the love of it.”
Esports News UK previously sponsored the similar UK Scouting Grounds two years ago, which became the Excel Esports Scouting Grounds last year.
We saw UK League of Legends talent highlighted at these past events such as Governor, Noltey, Beeley and others, who have gone on to play in the higher-tier UK tournament, Riot Games’ and LVP’s UKLC.
The UKPG teams in full
Team 1
- Top: Merpilian
- Jungle: Flex King Tyrin (who once coached ENUK)
- Mid: Splaff
- Carry: 3nacho
- Support: didol
Team 2
- Top: Akkers
- Jungle: Karbine
- Mid: SykesLOL
- Carry: DejaVoo
- Support: Alspooks
Team 3
- Top: Sacha Pearce
- Jungle: Battlesuit
- Mid: Howson
- Carry: Rabstar
- Support: Ol1ver
- Sub: Divinuss
Team 4
- Top: DeathByLollipops
- Jungle: Conorg123
- Mid: bbmuffin
- Carry: Utsukushi Fuyu
- Support: Zoo
Team 5
- Top: Toliam
- Jungle: 4Shore
- Mid: nice guy dom
- Carry: Kzed
- Support: Buzzy
Team 6
- Top: Jez
- Jungle: pawp
- Mid: Ice
- Carry: S0NDER
- Support: regan
Team 7
- Top: Frostfusion
- Jungle: Shadowinflames
- Mid: Pillar
- Carry: Kasper
- Support: Rip my Elo
Team 8
- Top: dªn1
- Jungle: zeamz
- Mid: Seanf90
- Carry: BlueSpirits (who recently won the Red Bull 1v1 Player One UK tournament)
- Support: Hyojung
- Sub: Younga
And let’s not forget the team behind the Proving Grounds:
Management
- Richard ‘Froomie’ Froom
- Alexander ‘Wise Traveller’ Wise
- Sam ‘Manimal’ Newbould
Hosts and casters
- Host: Harry ‘Docda’ Evans
- Play by play caster: Will ‘Viperoon’ Whittingham
- Colour caster: James ‘TheGovernor’ Gove
- Colour caster: Adrian ‘Jamada’ Thorne
- Colour caster: Charlie ‘TheSarge’ Sarginson
- Possibly another TBC
Watch the British Esports & ENUK Proving Grounds from 6pm-10pm on November 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 25th, 26th, 27th and the final on 28th on Twitch here
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.
