Esports company Alliance's first all-female team is ready to enter the competitive and male-dominated esports scene.
- I liken women's teams to junior teams.
Young people have not had as much time, opportunities and resources to develop as athletes.
It's the same with women, they haven't had the same opportunities — real salaries that allow them to play full-time, to be able to travel to competitions and train in a professional environment," said Kelly Ong, chief strategist at Alliance.
The game that Alliance's new team plays is "Valorant".
One of the world's currently biggest games with more than 20 million active players per month.
The game is a tactical first-person shooter for PC played in two teams five against five.
Studied law
Ece "Kuripuuya" Selin Balikdere was recruited by the Swedish Alliance and has quickly had to leave her home country of Turkey, where she studied law, to become the team captain of the new team Alliance Covent.
- I never intended to become a professional, I have played to have fun with my friends, she says, and continues:
- But I liked playing for a team and promised myself to be the best, and to continue to grind, she says.
Kelly Ong says that a long-term goal is for the players to take a place in mixed teams eventually.
Ece “Kuripuuya” Selin Balikdere agrees.
- That is my ultimate goal.
I want to prove that we can be at the same level, and the tournaments are bigger and better on the men's side.
I want to compete at the highest possible level, she says.