Esports organisation Astralis has recently announced the launch of its Astralis Talent initiative, a new programme focused on the development of young talent in a professional setting.
As a part of the initiative, the Danish group plans to create a recruitment platform and training partner for its essential teams. This will grant new players with education and access to the same staff and tools as its professional players.
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Anders Hørsholt, CEO of Astralis, spoke on the announcement: “We have invested significantly in creating the optimal conditions for professional esports players and we aim to constantly progress as an organization, as teams and as individuals. By introducing ‘Astralis Talent’, we invite local talent to be a part of our set-up and culture with the ambition to integrate young players into a healthy, competitive environment, introducing them to the life of a true professional.”
Initially, the organisation will most likely enrol older and more experienced players, although it aims to work mainly with teenagers, including their parents throughout the process. The starting setup will consist of talent teams in League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. By the end of the first year, Astralis Group plans to have in total three League of Legends and two Counter-Strike sides.
Kasper Hvidt, Director of Sports commented: “Ever since we started, we have had discussions around how to implement talent development into our overall strategy without compromising in other areas. We finally feel we have the resources and facilities and we have gained a lot of experience, which we obviously did not have when starting out.”
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The company has already started hiring its staff, bringing in the likes of Mikkel Donby as its League of Legends talent team Head Coach. He will also be assisted by Anders Schultz.
In Counter-Strike, the Head Coach of its talent team will be Dennis Vang, as well as having Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen, the current Astralis Head Coach, as an assistant.
“Our new team coaches in League of Legends have brought a lot of experience and ideas and together with zonic, performance manager Lars Robl and the three new talent coaches, we will have an extremely strong group around the teams,” added Kasper.
Esports Insider says: Preparing young players for their job as professional esports athletes is a significant and important aspect in growing the esports industry. It is good to see more and more organisations turning their focus into bringing in new talent, especially in the case of organisations like Astralis, who have plenty of experience and resources to share this knowledge.