The History of Women's Esports and the NAVI Javelins Team
Traditionally, esports is considered to be a male-dominated field. However, studies show that in recent years, electronic sports have attracted the attention of women, and a third of the audience now consists of girls. There has also been progress in terms of professional career growth for female esports players. In Ukraine, esports is primarily associated with Maksim Krippa esports organization team, Natus Vincere - NAVI Javelins. More about this team and how and when women entered the industry – in the article below.
The First Women in Esports
There is a strong belief that esports, like cryptocurrency, are inventions of recent decades. And while this is somewhat true for crypto - Bitcoin emerged in 2008, the story of esports is much more intriguing. The birth of this direction can be traced back to 1972, when the first tournament for the game Spacewar took place. A little less than ten years later, a fairly large tournament was held, gathering 10,000 participants.
Another common misconception is that women entered esports much later than men, suggesting that initially, it was a territory only for young men. The first male team, Team DK, was formed in 1997, and the first female team, Frag Dolls, also emerged in 1997. It's no wonder that today's esports community advocates for equal rights and full inclusion of genders. After all, the industry was originally built on making both men and women feel comfortable.
Leading Women's Esports Teams Worldwide
Although women's esports started at the same time as men's, absolute equality has not yet been achieved. For unknown reasons, women are much less likely to pursue careers as professional esports players. Even as fans, they join the community not only and not primarily for the game but for communication. However, recently, as esports attract a larger audience, the trend is changing.
It should be noted that one possible reason women are less active in esports is money. This is evident even from a cursory analysis of the largest tournaments and their prizes. The International in 2021 offered over $40 million, the League of Legends World Championship in 2018 - $6.45 million, and Major Championships in 2021 - $2 million. Women's tournaments are much more modest: none have reached a million. ESL Impact League in 2023 offered $500,000 in prize money, and GirlGamer Esports Festival in 2021 - $100,000.
Thus, key problems in women's esports identified by analysts include low funding, lack of recognition, and stereotypes. Women's teams not only fall short of the prize levels at men's tournaments but also receive significantly less financial support, affecting the quality of training and gameplay. In turn, game performance creates a field for a recognition crisis and insufficient interest from the audience.
Esportswomen are doing relatively well in the country of equality and democracy – the USA. It's no coincidence that all positions in the TOP-3 women's esports teams are held by representatives of the USA: Dignitas Female, CLG Red, and C9 White.
Reference: TOP-5 Women's Esports Disciplines
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- League of Legends
- Valorant
- Dota 2
- Overwatch
Women's Esports in Ukraine
The exact number of Ukrainian esports teams is unknown, but experts estimate it to be around a hundred. Of these, only 5-10% are women's teams. In this light, compiling a top five or ten is of little significance. However, the leader in women's esports is well-known – the NAVI Javelins team.
NAVI Javelins is one of the teams of the esports organization NAVI, which is currently owned by investor Maksim Krippa. Interestingly, with the arrival of Maksim Krippa, many analysts associate the creation and development of the women's Counter-Strike team.
The story goes like this: in 2018, Maksim Krippa became an investor in the organization. Then, between 2019-2020, Maksim Krippa decided to become the beneficial owner of NAVI. This decision was welcomed by the organization, especially since NAVI at that time already needed financial injections for development and growth. However, it took Maksim Krippa several years to finalize the deal.
It is believed that the protracted deal was structured in such a way as to oblige investor Maksim Krippa to fulfill a number of conditions, including creating an educational platform for young esports players and possibly a women's team. These and other unknown conditions were fulfilled by Maksim Krippa. However, another part of the expert community analyzing the situation tends to believe that the creation of the women's team was a successful and voluntary decision by Maksim Krippa.
Reference: TOP-3 Assets of Maksim Krippa
- NAVI Esports Organization
- Maincast Esports Broadcasting Studio
- Game Development Company GSC Game World
Regardless, in 2022, the NAVI Javelins team was formed. The name is based on the English word meaning "spear." So, the "javelins" – literally spear-throwers, are agile, skillful, strong, and enduring.
The esportswomen have already shown their character at leading global tournaments: in 2022, they won conditional bronze at the ESL Impact League Season 2, silver at the GirlGamer Esports Festival European Finals, and in 2024, gold at EPL Female Season 1.
Recently, there have been changes in the stellar lineup of NAVI Javelins. Liina and LETi left the team. The current NAVI Javelins lineup is as follows: vicu (Yanitska), Hanka (Pudlis), Angelka (Kozlovska), ASTRA (Shamplio), and D7 (Asensio). Unfortunately, there are no Ukrainians in the main lineup, but it's encouraging that the team's manager is Ukrainian Olga "Ollie" Novak.
Reference: TOP-5 Women's Esports Tournaments
- ESL Impact League
- GirlGamer Esports Festival
- Women's Esports League (WEL)
- Ambush Female Tournament
- Phoenix League