UK team catJAM won the European Women’s Car Ball Championship (WCBC), the largest all-women Rocket League tournament, in a convincing 4-0 sweep on Saturday.
The eclectic Welsh, English and Scottish roster of Caitlin ‘Ravena’ Reedfull, Millie ‘Duckz’ Ward and ‘Sophay’ (respectively) made a resounding run to victory through the double-elimination playoff after a 5-week qualification process.
The European tournament featured a $5,000 prize pool.
But the developer-backed tournament sparked a debate on Twitter after some community figures posted memes and jokes about the WCBC, and complained about the existence of female-only tournaments with significant prize pools.
Others quickly hit back, highlighting the importance of the event and affirmative action for developing future talent, and creating a safe playing environment for women players.
Scottish semi-pro Calum ‘Calzafy’ Mathieson’s tweet ignited the debate
Irish Endpoint player Nelson ‘virtuoso’ Lasko was one of the high-profile figures who came out in defence of WCBC
catJAM’s Caitlin ‘Ravena’ Reedfull also joined the debate
With a bye into the upper semifinals of the playoff, catJAM went 3-1, 3-0 and 4-0 respectively to claim the $3,000 first place prize.
The team thoroughly dominated the tournament, winning four out of the five qualification weeks in a row ahead of playoffs.
The debate happened a few days prior to International Women’s Day, which took place yesterday (March 8th 2021).
Fnatic also published a report on gender equality in esports and gaming yesterday.
WCBC, which aims to provide opportunities for women to excel in Rocket League, was packed with UK talent. Four out of the seven playoff teams had a UK majority roster, and just over 52% of players in the tournament were from the UK.
Runners up Sakura Blues also featured a UK majority with Alisa ‘Alisa’ Watts and Bella ‘Crimson’ Selwood both hailing from the UK, joined by Portuguese teammate Claire ‘Caro’ Reis.
Organized by TO Crimson Wings, WCBC is currently in its third season. Game developer Psyonix joined as a sponsor to officially back the championship this season, boosting the total prize pool to $5,000 (£3,600).
There are two WCBC tournaments, one for Europe and one for North America. Each have a $5,000 prize pool.
The North American WCBC kicks off on Saturday March 13th on the WCBC Twitch channel.
