New UK-based esports organisation Tenstar have announced their first team – the Valorant roster known as Tarren Mill.
The team includes UK players Jack ‘Br0die’ Emmott, Calum ‘KRAY’ Knight, Russel ‘Russ’ Mendes, Tramaine ‘stanley’ Stanley and Finnish player Niko ‘polvi’ Polvinen.
This roster has a wealth of experience in CSGO, having secured various national titles, and has four grand final appearances, including two first places.
Tenstar’s Valorant team will be competing in ESL UK’s Valorant UK & Ireland Skirmish, where they will hope to take home the title.
In terms of the new org, Tenstar describe themselves as ‘a fun and inclusive esports organisation driven by passion and desire to become a new global leader within the industry’.
The org’s co-founders are Carl Roderick (now going by the name of Tom Roderick), Benjamin Drew and Sarah Sanders, following the launch of their other business, Adamo Gaming, at the beginning of 2021.
Adamo plans to run tournaments, field teams, create content and offer courses in esports, with a focus on inclusivity and giving a platform to young people to help them develop, and Tenstar’s aim is to ‘be the highest performing organisation with fun, inclusion and development at its heart’. It will also be growing players in its academy and working with a range of unsigned and aspiring esports professionals across a mix of titles.
Tenstar CEO Tom Roderick said: “This is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. We have an awesome roster in our first title, and we have a number of very high profile players in conversation. Keep watching out for us, as we really hope to make a great impression.
“We are super stoked to have these guys on board, and the early signs show that we have backed the right group to hit the decks running. These aren’t just a great group of players, but they’re also really exciting individuals to have on our journey.”
UK-based creative agency DLC Studios worked on the branding for Tenstar, including this narrative-focused teaser tweet.
“We took our time with identifying a roster that fits our vision as an organisation and one that can compete against the best. We want to push them to reach their full potential and to win every tournament they compete in.”
Matt Loftus, Tenstar
General manager Matt Loftus added: “We’re so excited to be able to finally announce this roster. It has been a long time coming with an extremely ambitious journey. We took our time with identifying a roster that fits our vision as an organisation and one that can compete against the best.
“With Tenstar being a brand new organisation, we aim to make a stamp on the scene and show the communities of Valorant what the team is made of, today is where we conquer the universe. In recent weeks, the team has shown incredible potential and growth, having recently secured a stable fifth. We want to push them to reach their full potential and to win every tournament they compete in.”
Adamo and Tenstar are building a large team of more than 80 staff to help achieve their goals, partly using the Government’s Kickstart Scheme. Earlier this year, they brought on board experienced UK esports professional Matt Loftus as general manager.
Tom (aka Carl) Roderick previously pleaded guilty to operating a mobile phone insurance scam back in 2008, which was addressed on the Adamo website earlier this year: “Tom heavily promotes inclusion, as an ex-offender himself, Tom has an appreciation for how labels and history can invite prejudice and judgement, he uses his own experience to promote tolerance, opportunity and to challenge stigmatisation.”
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.
