What is FL E-sport?
FL E-sportförening is a swedish non-profit organisation working to promote women, transpeople and non-binary people within esports and the wider gaming community.
Our goal is for everyone to feel welcome, included, accepted and represented. We want to help players of all levels achieve their gaming dreams. The organisation was founded in 2016 in Sweden and has since amassed over 2000 members.
FL E-sport
Encourage e-sport as an activity for all, where all are treated fairly
Follows the e-sport Code of Conduct and always promote fair play
Organization is focused on openness, participation and community spirit
Fights for equality and inclusivity
What does FL E-sport do?
Gaming Nights
On our Discord we host gaming nights in a varaity of different games. It’s a great way to make new friends who have an interest in the same game as you!
Tournaments
We organize separatist and mixed tournaments on different levels.
We aim for our tournaments to always be inclusive and help lift players up toward participating in open and other mixed tournaments.
Coaching
We coach players in a few different games - all levels are welcome! We normally have two coaching seasons per year - one during spring and one during autumn. We also host a coach education for coaches that are new in our organisation. All coaching questions can be sent to coaching@femalelegends.com
Lan Party 2019
In 2019 we organized a small Lan party for women and non-binary people in Stockholm. During the LAN we had guests from the gaming industry - for example Effie Karabuda (author of the book “Gamer”) and Matilda Smedius (voice actress for Brigitte in Overwatch). A video from the LAN can be viewed here (in Swedish): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PODTGztqmow
Events
The board visit a varaity of different events across Sweden. We want to meet our members IRL and it gives us a chance to talk about our orgnisation and cause to new people. Feel free to stop by and say hi if you see us!
We also host smaller activities on these events.
Overwatch Camp 2019
In 2019, as part of the project “Future of Esports”, we organized a camp for girls aged 13-25 who live in Sweden. During the camp participants lived together, participated in workshops, formed teams and got coached in the game.
Why does FL E-sport exist?
We firmly believe there is no physical difference between the genders when it comes to e-sport prowess, yet we see a significantly lower rate of participation from women on all levels. A study of 2000 Swedish youth in 2015 shows that girls play just as many video games as boys up until puberty, where girls stop. Notably they could not find more than 3 female participants in the age span 17-18 claiming to play any esports title. Another study by the Swedish anti-bullying organization Friends uncovered that one in five women had been harassed during the previous year, contrary to one in ten for the men. We also know that women who game are more likely to head into STEM fields, which include game development, where they are otherwise underrepresented. FL E-sport will work toward not being needed, and believe we will be so when we see:
An gender-equal and low level of harassment in gaming
A significant share of female participants in esports on all levels
Equal and inclusive workplaces in all areas related to gaming