With the commencement of the NLC Division 1 Spring Split on the horizon, we wanted to introduce André ‘Sjaku’ Gaarsted Nielsen as Head Coach & Ryan ‘Rydona’ Dunkley as Manager of our League of Legends team for 2023.
We’re placing a heavy focus on building and in particular the development of talent. This approach has been a cornerstone of our organisation whether it be our back-to-back success in League of Legends, our Irish based Valorant roster or our Collegiate Esports League which is introducing and developing talent across the Island of Ireland.
The upcoming split will see Sjaku, former LoL Talent Team Coach, promoted into the First Team to build upon the strong foundations of this year’s two titles and successful promotion run.
Sjaku led our Talent Team to great success, including a 14-0 regular split and putting the team into contention for an NLC Division 2 promotion. The Danish coach also created strong relationships with everyone around him and promoted a positive environment for all, a strength we value greatly.
Also joining us is Rydona, somewhat of a veteran of the scene and strong track record. Our UK based manager has worked with teams in the past such as Hyve, Lucent and Rate Gaming seeing great results across the board.
“Promoting from within is really important to us to ensure we maintain the culture we’ve been building within the org. So to give Sjaku the opportunity to step up to lead the LoL First Team is really exciting and reflective of the success he achieved with the Talent Team. With Rydona he bring’s with him experience of success over time in the highest non-franchise division, said Co-founder and Chairman Kurt Pittman
Earning promotion into the Division is something that we’re very proud of. While we’re disappointed withthe decision taken by Freaks4U to downgrade the NLC we’re looking at this as anopportunity to lean in and help build the NLC back to where it belongs.”
We wanted to take this opportunity to thank Demb who has been with us since Nativz was established and wish him well in his next venture. We also want to thank our 2022 Manager Fresh who joined from MNM.
If you’re a player interested in joining our League of Legends team, keep your eyes peeled over the next few days. We’ll be announcing our trials via twitter & discord!