NZ Esports Team, E Blacks, Announced Ahead Of Commonwealth Games Qualifiers

Young kiwis have donned newly created E Blacks jerseys as the team’s campaign for the Commonwealth Games kicks off.

For the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, starting in July, a pilot is being offered where three different esports are up for medal contention – Dota 2, Rocket League and eFootball.

The four captains, Sam Johnson (Dota 2), Lucy Tam (Dota 2 Women), Tyler Williams (Rocket League), and Joshua King (eFootball), were presented with their blazers at an announcement in Auckland’s Sky Tower on Wednesday morning.

RYAN ANDERSON/Stuff
Captains were presented with their E Black blazers at an announcement in Auckland on Wednesday

NZ Esports Federation CEO Jonathan Jenson said it was really exciting to be able to put up a team to compete on an international stage.

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Selections ran smoothly – with local tournaments allowing the “cream to rise to the top”.

The teams will work with High Performance Sport NZ where they’ll have training sessions with sports psychologists, nutritionists and sleep scientists – much like Olympic athletes have.

Apart from the sessions with HPSNZ, funding for the campaign is completely grassroots, Jenson said, with no money coming in from NZ sports bodies.

“Rugby is the largest secondary school sport in the country…. we aren’t at rugby level, but we will be there in a few years.

“If you look at the funding difference between the two, there is a pretty giant difference”.

Esports was probably one of the largest participation sports in the country, Jenson said.

RYAN ANDERSON/Stuff
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Dota2 Open captain Sam Johnson (known in-game as Fury), said it felt amazing to represent the country as an E Black for someone who had worked in the competitive scene for some time.

“It’s like that final step”.

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Dota 2 is a 5v5 game where players compete across three lanes and the jungle (the space between the lanes). The aim is to push the enemy back and destroy the enemy ‘ancient’ in their base.

The team has been scrimming (practising) against Australian and south-east Asian opponents, watching replays and going over strategies to prepare for the qualifier match against Australia.

“We’ve been training together for 10-15 hours a week, and then doing solo work, so as not to burn out,” Johnson said.

Head coach Patrick Gleeson (WarTurtle) said while many of the players had competed in big tournaments before, carrying the New Zealand name on their back made this one particularly special.

Gleeson said his role entailed keeping the players happy, making sure they’re getting proper sleep and nutrition and helping with communication, which would let the players focus on their game without distraction.

The esports teams, except eFootball who have already qualified, will face off against Australia next month, in the first ever test match, to decide who will get the chance to compete on the international stage.