Esports organisation Team Vitality and its official sound partner JBL Quantum have joined forces to introduce ‘The Way Up,’ a new Rocket League tournament for non-pros aged under 20.
It’s designed to help young EMEA Rocket League talent forge their paths towards professional esports.
‘The Way Up’ is only for players aged 14 to 20. And both professional and semi-pro players are excluded from the tournament.
This event offers a glimpse into the competitive world, starting with qualifiers on May 22nd and 23rd 2024. In addition to a €3,000 cash prize pool, players will have a chance to showcase their skills to Rocket League’s elite.
‘The Way Up’ consists of three qualifying tournaments. The top six players, two finalists from each tournament, will progress to the grand final LAN, which will ill take place on September 7th at V.Hive, Team Vitality’s headquarters in Paris.
This will give young talent the chance to experience playing in a live LAN environment.
UK caster JohnnyBoi_i, who is known for shining a spotlight on the game’s top players through the organisation of amateur 1v1 tournaments on his channel, and French caster and and Team Vitality Rocket League ambassador FuuRy_Off, will cast the grand finals.
These finals will be open to the public, and also broadcast live and on the Twitch channels of these two casters in French and English.
JohnnyBoi_i said: “Will be casting The Way Up 1v1 tournament by Vitality and JBL Quantum so don’t hesitate to join if you are an amateur player from Europe, Middle East or North Africa.”
The news comes ahead of the pro-level Rocket League London Major 2024 and the Esports World Cup 2024.
As well as the prize pool, the winners will also be receiving gaming gear from JBL Quantum rewards. In addition to this, the grand winner will have the chance to experience an immersive professional player experience, gaining access to Team Vitality’s facilities at the Stade de France and V.Hive, where they can interact with the club’s Rocket League coaching staff. Finally, they will walk away with the Hummel Pro Kit in the club’s iconic colours.
Audio brand JBL Quantum has been partnered with Vitality since 2022. It’s working with the org on Europe-wide activations, and features on the team’s official jersey and provides the roster with headsets.
Nicolas Maurer, Co-Founder and CEO of Team Vitality, said: “At Team Vitality, we believe in the importance of supporting the next generation of players.
“The Way Up is our way of giving young talent a chance to shine, to be noticed, and to reveal their potential, like zen, one of our Rocket League players and international champion at just 17 years old.”
Nicolas Maurer, Team Vitality
Robert van Dormael, VP Marketing at JBL, added: “We are continually looking for ways to bring young gaming talent together with the best names in esports. This Rocket League tournament that we co-host with Team Vitality is another great example.
“We are proud JBL Quantum headsets help them play their best game. From detecting crossfires to the slightest enemy movements, we developed the JBL Quantum range to have the most accurate soundscape ever, leaving players to truly feel like they’re inside the game.”
Registration for the initial phase of The Way Up is available through the start.gg website from May 16th to May 21st 2024.
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.
