the esports tribune

as womens history month comes to a close i couldn’t help but find it right but to celebrate, and highlight some of the amazing women i’ve gotten to work with recently.

as most of you know i’m sure, i, (along with the other women mentioned a little later) have recently joined the ambassador team at ghost gaming. i’ve gotten a lot of questions about what this means, so here’s my generalized explanation.

ghost gaming was looking to partner with georgia collegiate programs, working with some of the key players of these programs to help strengthen and develop them, while also providing them a platform. the last few weeks of this partnership has been great (honestly. not getting paid to say that, i promise) and i genuinely think this program has the potential to do some awesome things for collegiate esports.

that being said, i wanted to take this opportunity to highlight a few members of our ambassador team, specifically the women. i genuinely feel like these two ladies have the potential to do great things in esports, and i look forward to seeing how their collegiate programs continue to progress.

i’ll begin with aislinn

aislinn (or ace) was first introduced to esports and the industry at her orientation at csu. after noticing a table for esports, she approached and began to talk with andrew brooks – the student assistant for the csu esports program. at this point, she had only really played 10-15 hours of video games, but had taken an interest in the professional valorant scene, and casting. going out on a limb, she asked if they even had a valorant team. fortunately for her, they did. immediately, ace offered to help with casting, even though she had zero experience. about a month later, ace was given the opportunity to cast her first game, and ended up hitting upwards of a hundred viewers.

“it dawned on me then that this wasn’t only going to be a hobby. i wanted to make it my life.”

-ace

that line in our interview really stuck out to me. i think for a lot of people, they find hobbies or things they enjoy, but to have such a moment of clarity to think “THIS. THIS is what i’m meant to do” is such a powerful thing.

she went on shortly after to become the manager of the colmbus state university esports program – and if that doesn’t speak volumes about her dedication, i dont know what does.

when i asked ace about her role models, she immediately started talking about minecraft. like many of us, videos made by aphmau, or ldshadowlady, filled her youtube recommended. she said that this was the first time that she felt truly inspired. seeing women who were confident in their femininity, while playing a video game, seemed foreign. growing up, hearing “video games for boys” really pushed a narrative that there wouldn’t be a place for her. seeing those women in gaming, and being successful in gaming, helped her tremendously growing up.

of course, people grow and change. i wanted to know who ace’s inspirations were now. women like victoria perez (vikkikitty), a smash and apex commentator alongside content creators like kyedae, are just two examples of her current inspirations.

speaking of vikkikitty, ace mentioned that she was actually able to meet her. at the monster community apex event in atlanta, they crossed paths at the event. ace asked for some advice in esports, as well as for her experiences. something vikki said really stuck out to me.

dont be afraid to make space, to ask questions, to go up to people and initiate those conversations

-vikkikitty

being able to talk to one of your mentors face to face is an extremely rewarding feeling. a direct quote from ace explains it a little better than i think i would.

“being able to talk to her and see her passion was so amazing to see in person, and makes me want to keep pushing. i want to inspire people the way that she inspires me.”

mindsets like that are what foster real change. that is a quote i know i will be thinking about for awhile.

gaming though, has its challenges. being a woman in a male dominated scene comes with benefits, and drawbacks. i have my own personal experiences (that’ll be shared a little later), but ace’s biggest takeaway was that we as women deserve to be here. “we have been put into these positions because we deserve them, and because we work hard. we have a right to be in this industry, and we cannot afford to forget that.”

like many other women in esports, ace is extremely passionate about getting MORE women in esports. she thinks the womens scene has increased drastically over the past few years, with things like valorant game changers, and womens car ball, but she stresses we need to keep pushing.

i asked her if she could share one message to a woman trying to make a career in gaming, what would it be? her response is something i agreed wholeheartedly with

don’t lose yourself. sometimes it can feel as though we have to give up our femininity to fit in, but that is not the case at all. continue to be who you are, and enjoy the things you do. double down on the things that make you YOU and don’t let them go.

-ace

on a personal note –

ace, i think you are such a positive influence, and will make a great role model for any woman looking to get into esports. your passion and determination is obvious, and i cannot wait to see you, as well as your collegiate esports program grow. you’ll do some great things, and we are lucky to have you as an ambassador.

highlighting our second ambassador, sinclaire hoyt.

sinclaire is a junior computer science major, with a minor in doc film. she’s doing something i find extremely interesting, and actually developing the esports program at spelman college.

her origin story is one i think a lot of us can relate to as well, with her first game addictions being mario kart, and super mario world on the nintendo ds. sinclaire has been playing games ever since. the first game she ever really feel in love with, (and beat multiple times!) was borderlands 3.

i think the look, mechanics, and characters are super unique. when i play this game, i feel like a little kind and find immense joy in being able to play through it, and i think thats when i realized i could make a career out of this, and really work to create a game like this, or even my own!

-sinclaire

rather than expanding on sinclaires next response with my own words, i think her answer speaks for itself. for context, i inquired about her first role models in gaming.

i didn’t really have many role models when growing up and playing games because there weren’t a lot of people who looked like me and were playing games. the only person that i knew that was playing games and helped me to also develop my love for gaming would be my dad. he loved to play video games and watch action movies and i think that’s where i really developed my love for gaming. going through this process of wanting to create games though, i never had anyone who looked like me and was in this game design space, and i wish i had someone like that to look up to. by creating this project and going through this process, i strive to be that role model that i didn’t have for other girls and guys alike

-sinclaire

tearjerker, to be quite honest. lack of representation is a plaguing issue in the gaming space, but one i think is moving in the right direction. people like sinclaire, with this passion for change, will be the ones that help little girls and little boys feel seen, and like they can belong in this space too.

recently though, sinclaire has found two people who she sees as huge inspirations. firstly, her mentor, erich thomas. erich is the gaming coach at morris brown, and is the epitome of going out, and seizing opportunities for yourself. erich has partnered with sinclaire, and been a tremendous help in creating the team at spelman. he has opened sinclaire up to a magnitude of opportunities and connections, solely because he genuinely wants her to succeed. another inspiration of hers is the twitch streamer ninjayla. ninjayla has worked hard and created a huge platform for herself, showcasing black girl magic within gaming, and the streaming platform!

she inspires me to take risks, and develop my brand within the streaming space as a black girl, which can be much harder than some would think.

-sinclaire

something prevalent through this interview with sinclaire is her emphasis on taking risks – on a leap of faith. when she finally submitted the paperwork for the approval of the spelman esports program. she had finally completed a dream of hers, purely because she took a leap of faith.

a very common saying i stand by, especially in this career field, is you miss 100% of the shots you dont take. i think that just shedding that layer of fear of being rejected will help a lot of people take every shot they can, even if they dont work out

sinclaire

we moved on to talking about the womens scene, and sinclaire noted that she believes there have been many advancements. women are now dominating the streaming space, game design, and just general content creation, where as just 10 years ago, you would have seen much less representation. although she’s excited about the work thats been done, sinclaire hopes to see more women in the competing in the professional scene.

i’ll end here with sinclaire’s piece of advice for any woman trying to make a career in gaming. just like ace i think what she said is so, so important, and could be valuable advice to anyone.

just because they said no right now, doesnt mean it is a forever no,. take that no, ask where you need to improve on, and work on it ten-fold. the second thing i would say is come over prepared. one thing spelman has taught me is that there is nothing wrong with being overprepared and overdressed in the room. that just means you came ready to truly tell them who you are and that you mean business

sinclaire

sinclaire is just starting up the esports program at spelman, and i know it’ll go far. just like her inspirations as a kid, shes creating a space for every type of gamer to find a home, and somewhere to share their passions with the world! and i think, that, is a magical thing.

and finally, me.

hi everyone. my name is hana. i’m sure you know me somehow if you found your way to my blog, but i’ll briefly reintroduce myself. i’m nineteen years old, and a student at the university of georgia.

i’ve been involved in esports for about five years now. i first got into rocket league in 2018, originally to impress a boy from my middle school (embarrassing, right?). by happenstance one day, i clicked on the rl esports tab. i remember sitting on my couch for hours watching this game, learning about mechanics i didn’t even know we’re possible. from there i made a twitter account, and got plugged into the community. it only took a few months before someone suggested i started streaming- and the rest is history.

when i think about my first ‘mentors’ in esports, i actually don’t know who to credit, if anyone. my first year or so on twitter i kind of felt like i just got adopted as everyone’s younger sister. i was 13 at the time, and didn’t really know what was going on, or any sort of proper twitter etiquette. fast forward a few years and women like widow, and herculyse have started blowing up in the scene. (those are two that really stuck out to me, but there are MANY, MANY more women who also have seen great success). although the mentorship wasn’t direct, i honestly think i looked up to them in a way as a much smaller creator. widow was headfirst in the one year challenge (that went onto be two) and elyse had completely taken over tiktok. it was captivating to say the least.

even now, when i think of amazing women in rocket league, my brain immediately darts to those names. up there for me as well are cailee, mira, luna, krissy, bailey, and countless others that would actually take ages to name. i think the women in rocket league have grown tremendously, and are averaging higher and higher amounts of viewers everyday.

when i try to think of the moments that have ‘defined’ my career thus far, i come up short. theres been so many experiences in the last year that have given me so much joy, and thankfulness. from signing with ghost, to hosting dawghack, to just quite frankly growing in content & twitter. just from recent events the future seems so very bright, and i think i have a lot more to do in this industry than i ever thought i would.

the industry though, is odd. i came into this extremely young. i was a 13 year old girl who had no idea what she was doing. people were generally kind of course, i was so young and they didn’t have much of a reason to hate – but there also comes some discredit because of it. being nineteen (which i have come to realize is ancient in the rl community) and a woman, often goes hand in hand with not being taken seriously. ‘business’ dms are often poorly veiled attempts at hitting on me. follower gain or any kind of progress gets chalked up to “oh shes a girl.” and.. its odd. it used to really bother me, truly it did, but i have since stopped needing any sort of validation.

which brings me to this. if any young girl is reading this right now, and wants to be in esports, heres one piece of advice i want you to remember. one piece of advice that i wish someone would have told me.

you are not guaranteed a space anywhere. if you’re told theres not space for you – make one. you will find a path, or you will make one. no one will hand you anything – and you shouldn’t expect them to. if you know what you bring to the table, you should never be afraid to eat alone. you, as a woman, do not have to fit into any boxes to be in this industry. never allow yourself to be encompassed with checking other peoples boxes, because you’ll realize after they never checked yours. never apologize for being motivated, determined, or disciplined. everything you work for will come to you, and when it does, it will be so, so good.

meet your ghost ambassadors. three women who are passionate, determined, and ready to make a change. working with women like these two inspire me daily- and they remind me constantly that there is so much more work to be done.

if you got all the way down here – thank you.

be sure to like this if you enjoyed, drop a comment or an email. let me know your thoughts.

❤