NEWS » son -- battled side by side for the lead and appeared

Decades ago, gaming might have been considered one of the last remaining boys clubs, especially among industry outsiders. In the past few years, statistical trends show otherwise. As of 2014, more than 52 percent of PC, console and handheld gamers were women (up from 49 percent in 2011), according to the Guardian, the British newspaper. Today, there are as many women playing competitive video games as men. Much of this growth is owed to the impressive strides women have been making in the esports community.Maria Remi Creveling, of the recently disbanded Renegades, became the first female to compete on a professional League of Legends team in the League Championship Series this past winter. StarCraft IIs Sasha Scarlett Hostyn, known as Korean Kryptonite and the Queen of Blades, has earned more than $100,000 in prize money and placed first in the 2012 World Championship Series. Stephanie missharvey Harvey of Counter Logic Gaming Red has won gold in five Electronic Sports World Cups in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive while maintaining a game designer position at Ubisoft.However, the competitive scene still remains predominantly devoid of top pro female talent. In order to help rectify this, a number of girls-only tournaments have popped up over the years: Intel Challenge Katowice, National ESL: Iron Lady, Copenhagen Games, ESL Female Open, GO North America, the recently announced StarLadder and Esports World Convention Women. But while they act as an important platform for women to compete, they also serve to spotlight the existing skill differentiation between men and women. For many female gamers, its a crutch they wish they could do without.Esports has had a complicated history with female-only gaming. Team Siren, immortalized on the Know Your Meme webpage, made waves on Reddit back in 2013 when the women on the team announced their intention to eventually qualify for and compete in the North American League Championship Series. Though the messaging behind the video was admittedly heavy-handed, the response to the video was largely negative. The girls later copped to intentionally filming the promotional material in a cheesy style, but expressed dismay that filmmakers had chosen to portray them in such a negative, clueless manner.It was more like us talking about why we played League and why we want to do this, Yoonie, the teams top laner, said in a YouTube video posted after all the community backlash. Instead, they took little bits and pieces from it and they made it into a video that wasnt really what we wanted it to be.The girls disbanded after four months, citing internal issues. Some of the women were welcomed back into the community as streamers, but due to the largely negative online media legacy left in Team Sirens wake, no female League teams have tried to follow suit.Years later, Remi began to compete in the North American League Championship Series and experienced pointed comments about her gender. Though industry professionals largely abstain from this kind of mud-slinging, a vocal minority continues to leave its mark on online forums and social media outlets, discouraging younger women from following in the footsteps of their tougher would-be role models. But this is the nature of women-only branding in almost every industry: It attracts haters from the darkest corners of the Internet.So how do you solve a problem that has no direct solution? Petya Zheleva, a former pro gamer, believes that to beat them, you have to join them. Zheleva, along with Tom Lemke, the vice president of business at Unikrn, founded grassroots European tournament SKYLLA, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament that invites pro female teams to compete alongside their male counterparts. Unlike other co-ed tournaments in which women have trouble qualifying due to a skill gap, SKYLLA invites lower-tiered male teams to compete. Over eight months, organizers will host seven tournaments, giving all sides some much-needed practice and exposure.This is still the ultimate goal: to foster an environment for women to play competitively, Lemke said. But at the end of the day, we still needed to deal with the potential backlash in the community. Its a stepping stone, a benchmark for everyone attending. And the response from the community has been very positive so far.But Zheleva isnt looking to hold hands. In fact, while the men are invited to join, four of the female teams have to go through open qualifiers to participate.There is no special treatment. Why is it special treatment? Zheleva said. There will always be people [who claim this]. We cant really compromise with everyone. There are as many opinions as there are humans. Were going to keep working on this project to see if its going to work, if there is a reason to continue to support this community. In the end, its all in their hands. We cant force them to play in our tournament. We cant force their progress. Its up to them to decide. Were just here to provide the grounds.According to Lemke, women online have already started responding positively to SKYLLA. Seeing established female gamers compete encourages other women to follow suit. Both Lemke and Zheleva assert that role models are vital to the growth of the female competitive scene.This is something Im very proud of, Lemke said. People would post online, I would like to compete in the SKYLLA tournament. Would someone join me? Within a couple hours, theyd found their matches and formed a team. This is pure magic.After a two-month development period and nearly a month of competition, SKYLLAs first champion was crowned. Swedes AK 47, an all-male team, walked away with a grand prize of $1,500 (the prize pool was $2,500). Though the tournaments viewership on Twitch is modest (the number of views just passed 200,000), Zheleva is optimistic about their future growth. The former pro says the tournament had its highest viewership on mixed-gender matches, which bodes well for the future of female esports. Zhelevas team is hoping that SKYLLA can serve as the minor league system for bigger tournaments and that, in a distant future, they can expand their reach to other esports.Back in 2005, 2006, when teams started to form their lineups, mixed teams were a fact, Zheleva said. If this is something thats achievable in a few countries, why is it not achievable for the entire community -- for the entire scene? Cheap Authentic Nike Sneakers . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Cheap Nike Sneakers Wholesale . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. http://www.cheapsneakersnike.com/ . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Wholesale Nike Sneakers China .Y. -- Bills receiver Stevie Johnson has a bone to pick with the NFL schedule maker. Cheap Nike Sneakers For Sale . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. LONG POND, Pa. -- Chris Buescher has spent 2016 living a season to forget.What was there to remember? That scary flip at Talladega amid several hard wrecks in restrictor-plate events? He spent the first 20 weeks with no top-10 finishes while driving cars that obviously needed work; he had failed to qualify in the top 20 all year.Through it all, Buescher persevered, in many ways with performances that justified his being under the radar, except when his car went airborne at Talladega.Funny thing is, what was under the radar allowed Buescher to have a day to remember Monday in the Pennsylvania 400 to earn his first career Sprint Cup win.Buescher, 22, had to wait 80 minutes after NASCAR declared a red flag for fog Monday afternoon at Pocono Raceway. With threats of severe weather and no lifting of the fog, NASCAR decided to end the race with just over 21 laps remaining.Buescher was one of two drivers -- third-place Regan Smith was the other -- who had not yet made a final pit stop when the fog forced NASCAR to throw the caution on Lap 132 and then the red flag just before the drivers came to the line to complete Lap 139.Everyone else had to pit for fuel or assumed the race would go longer. They could see rain a little further out but couldnt predict the under-the-radar fog.So a quiet driver ended up in a quiet Victory Lane in a garage since NASCAR couldnt use the real Victory Lane because of the threat of lightning. It was a somewhat appropriate venue for a feel-good story for a driver who seems to savor getting behind the wheel and competing, whether hes running for 20th or for the lead.This is going to stir up our whole year. ... Its not going to [sink in] for a while, Buescher said of the win, which came in his 27th career Sprint Cup start. It doesnt even feel real right now. Its so quiet in here. Were not even in the real Victory Lane. Were having to seek shelter. It was a pretty wild event.The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook had Buescher at 1,000-to-1 to win the race. He is the first rookie to win a Cup race since Joey Logano did it in 2009.I hope somebody bet on us and made out really well, Buescher said. It would be awesome for them. We faced pretty steep odds coming into this one. ... You take advantage of every situation thats presented to you, and thats what we did today.The win could put Buescher in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, as he sits six points behind 30th-place David Ragan in the Sprint Cup standings. A driver has to be in the top 30 to qualify for the Chase via a race victory. Ragan posted the first Front Row Motorsports victory at Talladega Superspeedway in May 2013, and now Buescher has the second.ddddddddddddere in the hunt, Buescher said. We can definitely handle this now. We can get into this Chase now. Well go do it the same way weve been doing. ... Weve been heading in the right direction.While Buescher pulled off the upset, many in the garage will see it as a just victory in the racing world. Buescher is well-respected not only for winning the 2015 Xfinity Series title but also because he took the chance to get Sprint Cup experience knowing he would drive for an underfunded, underdog team that likely would produce few top-10s, let alone victories.The key [for young drivers] is to make the most of your opportunities, said second-place finisher Brad Keselowski. Chris is a master of that. He makes the most out of each and every opportunity.Thats going to take him a long ways in his career.Buescher had to take something of a sidestep in his career this year. After winning the Xfinity Series title for Roush Fenway Racing in 2015, Buescher was set to defend that title this year when Roush did a deal with Front Row Motorsports to loan Buescher -- and crew chief Bob Osborne -- to Front Row for 2016.Buescher won on a day when two of the youngest stars of the Sprint Cup Series -- Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson -- battled side by side for the lead and appeared to have the best pit strategy early in the race.Congratulations to [Buescher], said Dillon, who has raced Buescher in the Xfinity Series. Its a little frustrating for all of us who were up there. It will be a blessing for him. Hes a great guy. He deserves anything that hes got coming to him.I just wish it was us. Given the situation, it was a heartbreaker.Larson and Dillon, both in their third year of Sprint Cup racing, are still looking for a first career win. The same is true for rookie Chase Elliott, who has had the best points season of any rookie.After the race was red-flagged, Elliott went over to Buescher.I stopped by and told him I was pulling for him, Elliott said just before the race was ruled official. It would be really cool. Hes a good racer. Hes deserving of a good opportunity and I think it would be neat to see him get a win.Buescher obviously thought it was neat. It was a great victory for him and Osborne, a former crew chief for Carl Edwards.Hes a good kid and an Xfinity champion, said three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart during the NBCSN telecast. It doesnt matter how you get your first win, you just want to get your first win. ' ' '