TnC Pro Team looks to be recruiting to form their first female Dota 2 squad.
The Seattle bound Filipino team has issued a call on twitter for women in Dota 2 to audition for TnC Girls. For those interested, the 'audition' will be held on July 8th at High Grounds Cafe, an internet spot that is popular in the region and has hosted professional teams and events in the past.
While details are scarce, including what the actual registration or selection criteria will be, many are hailing this as a great first step towards re-introducing all women squads into the Dota 2 professional circuit. Currently, there are no active women's professional teams competing.
TnC does boast employing analyst and coach Murielle “Kips” Huisman who acts as a ray of sunshine on the male dominated dark horizon of the professional scene. Kips previously worked with Fnatic as well through TI6 where they took 4th place overall. Her career has been met with much success and praise for breaking through the glass ceiling that seem to hinder many women in Dota 2 gaming. While one may find women in hosting, broadcasting, managing and contention creation roles, finding those directly involved in professional competition is mostly non existent.
In February of 2017, Newbee.Boss debuted with a mixed squad for the DAC 2017 pre-qualifier featuring Bi “axx” Xia playing alongside legendary players Zhang “xiao8” Ning, Wong “ChuaN” Hock Chuan, Luo “Ferrari_430” Feichi. The squad eventually took 9-10th place.
Aside from axx's brief foray into the professional scene, Dota 2 has not seen a professional female team in several years. In September 2012, Virtus.Pro formed an all-women’s squad known as Virtus.Pro Ladies including Olga “KozaDereza” Dunaeva (captain) , Yana “b2ru” Himchenko and Mila “Mila” Alieva - all notable women that are still prominent in the Dota 2 CIS scene.
On June 11th, 2013, Na’Vi picked up an all-female team and took first place in the CGAMES female Cup against VP.Ladies. There was even a Female Dota 2 LAN in Kiev, on July 9, 2013, in which Na’Vi Ladies seized the title. RoX.KIS and LGD Gaming were among some of the organizations to join in on signing female players in and around 2013. But unfortunately, the last hints of any team competing was only about one year later in 2014, when it all seemed to vanish into thin air.
As TnC now seem to be trying to put something together, women in the Philippines and around the world are hoping and waiting to see if this will kick off a new era in Dota 2, to bring about more inclusion.
