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How UK esports organisations recognised International Women’s Day 2022: LDN UTD announce women’s LoL roster, Beckham chats with female Guild content creators, Excel Esports women share their stories & more

Posted on by Dom Sacco
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For transparency: Esports News UK editor Dom Sacco used to work full-time for British Esports between September 2016 and February 2021, and currently does some freelance work for them, producing their weekly email newsletter.

Today is International Women’s Day, and the UK esports industry has been celebrating the occasion with a host of announcements, discussions and content. Here’s a roundup of what we’ve seen from some of the more well-known organsations.

First up, David Beckham got involved, sitting down with Guild Esports content creators Niki and Harrie, to discuss their own journey to becoming a success in the industry and how they are helping to empower younger girls to follow a similar route.

Beckham spoke about the women that have inspired him throughout life, including Jessica Ennis, The Williams Sisters and The Lionesses. He also spoke about the excitement he has for his daughter, Harper, being able to grow up in a world that is becoming more equal for women, especially in gaming and esports.

“It’s inspiring to hear that you’re part of a world that is giving women the same opportunities as everyone else, and that is the way it should always have been,” Becks said.

Niki Nichachu added: “It’s really great that we have given women the opportunity to go further and start their own businesses and brands, expand and explore everything that they want to. A few years ago, we couldn’t even think about that.”

Secondly, Excel Esports asked the women at the UK esports organisation to share their stories and experiences of being a woman in esports.

Manisha Dhokia, creative production manager, said: “Though ‘gaming’ and esports is heavily male-dominated, it’s great to see more women entering and gaining stature within the space.

“On the whole, my experience has been very fair and respectful of my gender, despite there being an underlying bias in the industry.”

Manisha Dhokia, Excel Esports

“It’s unfortunate there has been a history where the gender ratio has favoured men in the industry. There are issues of misogyny, toxicity and sexism towards female gamers – contributing to a lack of role models and creators that appeal or relate to women. This is a core issue that needs to change.”

Maisie Ashrafi, marketing communications and campaign manager, gave her advice to women that would like to get into esports: “Go for it! Even though it is very much a male-dominated industry at present. As a woman, you will be very much respected. At least, I am lucky enough to say that has been my experience thus far.”

Thirdly, LDN UTD announced their League of Legends women’s roster, featuring the likes of Ali and Bambi:

LDN UTD founder Oliver Weingarten also joined British Esports founder Chester King and content executive Bryony-Hope Green, as well as Alastair Fan, League of Legends head coach from Team Norse Thunder, to talk at the Include Summit in Birmingham.

British Esports‘ ‘Women in Esports’ initiative also posted the below video and an article titled: 10 women in esports you should be following.

Elsewhere, She Plays Games shared its list of 100 most inspiring women making an impact in esports and video games.

This list included several women from the UK games/esports industry, including Black Twitch UK co-founder Cassie Hughes, Rainbow Six Siege caster Emi ‘CaptainFluke’ Donaldson, GG Recon editor-in-chief Mel Ramsay and many more.

UK games industry trade body Ukie held a ‘hub crawl’ online, including an all-women panel discussing the future of esports in light of International Women’s Day 2022. This featured Karen Ward from The Story Mob, Heather Dower from Hotdrop and Mel Ramsay from GG Recon.

And Twitch is celebrating Women’s History Month, with local front page features for women creators/streamers throughout the month, in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Finally, we’ll leave you with a selection of tweets from UK esports organisations and businesses celebrating International Women’s Day 2022 and recognising some of the women talent on their teams.

Some companies recognised various women, but we couldn’t put every single tweet in otherwise this article would become a tome! So do check out their feeds for more.

Related International Women’s Day content

Have we missed anything you think should be included in this article? Drop us a DM and let us know.

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