Decades ago, gaming might have been considered one of the last remaining boys clubs, especially among industry outsiders. In the past few years, statistical trends show otherwise. As of 2014, more than 52 percent of PC, console and handheld gamers were women (up from 49 percent in 2011), according to the Guardian, the British newspaper. Today, there are as many women playing competitive video games as men. Much of this growth is owed to the impressive strides women have been making in the esports community.Maria Remi Creveling, of the recently disbanded Renegades, became the first female to compete on a professional League of Legends team in the League Championship Series this past winter. StarCraft IIs Sasha Scarlett Hostyn, known as Korean Kryptonite and the Queen of Blades, has earned more than $100,000 in prize money and placed first in the 2012 World Championship Series. Stephanie missharvey Harvey of Counter Logic Gaming Red has won gold in five Electronic Sports World Cups in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive while maintaining a game designer position at Ubisoft.However, the competitive scene still remains predominantly devoid of top pro female talent. In order to help rectify this, a number of girls-only tournaments have popped up over the years: Intel Challenge Katowice, National ESL: Iron Lady, Copenhagen Games, ESL Female Open, GO North America, the recently announced StarLadder and Esports World Convention Women. But while they act as an important platform for women to compete, they also serve to spotlight the existing skill differentiation between men and women. For many female gamers, its a crutch they wish they could do without.Esports has had a complicated history with female-only gaming. Team Siren, immortalized on the Know Your Meme webpage, made waves on Reddit back in 2013 when the women on the team announced their intention to eventually qualify for and compete in the North American League Championship Series. Though the messaging behind the video was admittedly heavy-handed, the response to the video was largely negative. The girls later copped to intentionally filming the promotional material in a cheesy style, but expressed dismay that filmmakers had chosen to portray them in such a negative, clueless manner.It was more like us talking about why we played League and why we want to do this, Yoonie, the teams top laner, said in a YouTube video posted after all the community backlash. Instead, they took little bits and pieces from it and they made it into a video that wasnt really what we wanted it to be.The girls disbanded after four months, citing internal issues. Some of the women were welcomed back into the community as streamers, but due to the largely negative online media legacy left in Team Sirens wake, no female League teams have tried to follow suit.Years later, Remi began to compete in the North American League Championship Series and experienced pointed comments about her gender. Though industry professionals largely abstain from this kind of mud-slinging, a vocal minority continues to leave its mark on online forums and social media outlets, discouraging younger women from following in the footsteps of their tougher would-be role models. But this is the nature of women-only branding in almost every industry: It attracts haters from the darkest corners of the Internet.So how do you solve a problem that has no direct solution? Petya Zheleva, a former pro gamer, believes that to beat them, you have to join them. Zheleva, along with Tom Lemke, the vice president of business at Unikrn, founded grassroots European tournament SKYLLA, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament that invites pro female teams to compete alongside their male counterparts. Unlike other co-ed tournaments in which women have trouble qualifying due to a skill gap, SKYLLA invites lower-tiered male teams to compete. Over eight months, organizers will host seven tournaments, giving all sides some much-needed practice and exposure.This is still the ultimate goal: to foster an environment for women to play competitively, Lemke said. But at the end of the day, we still needed to deal with the potential backlash in the community. Its a stepping stone, a benchmark for everyone attending. And the response from the community has been very positive so far.But Zheleva isnt looking to hold hands. In fact, while the men are invited to join, four of the female teams have to go through open qualifiers to participate.There is no special treatment. Why is it special treatment? Zheleva said. There will always be people [who claim this]. We cant really compromise with everyone. There are as many opinions as there are humans. Were going to keep working on this project to see if its going to work, if there is a reason to continue to support this community. In the end, its all in their hands. We cant force them to play in our tournament. We cant force their progress. Its up to them to decide. Were just here to provide the grounds.According to Lemke, women online have already started responding positively to SKYLLA. Seeing established female gamers compete encourages other women to follow suit. Both Lemke and Zheleva assert that role models are vital to the growth of the female competitive scene.This is something Im very proud of, Lemke said. People would post online, I would like to compete in the SKYLLA tournament. Would someone join me? Within a couple hours, theyd found their matches and formed a team. This is pure magic.After a two-month development period and nearly a month of competition, SKYLLAs first champion was crowned. Swedes AK 47, an all-male team, walked away with a grand prize of $1,500 (the prize pool was $2,500). Though the tournaments viewership on Twitch is modest (the number of views just passed 200,000), Zheleva is optimistic about their future growth. The former pro says the tournament had its highest viewership on mixed-gender matches, which bodes well for the future of female esports. Zhelevas team is hoping that SKYLLA can serve as the minor league system for bigger tournaments and that, in a distant future, they can expand their reach to other esports.Back in 2005, 2006, when teams started to form their lineups, mixed teams were a fact, Zheleva said. If this is something thats achievable in a few countries, why is it not achievable for the entire community -- for the entire scene? Bruins Jerseys 2019 . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. Fake Bruins Jerseys . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. https://www.cheapbruins.com/ . Self was acquired from the Buffalo Bandits in a trade for Alex Hill midway through last season, and made his debut in Rochester on March 16, 2013. Wholesale Bruins Jerseys . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer. Stitched Bruins Jerseys . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Since the start of preseason practices, Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton has been selling his teams depth as their biggest advantage. On Tuesday night, the Seminoles put that on full display.Six players scored in double figures as the Seminoles cruised to a 99-78 victory over Iona. It is the first time since the 2014-15 opener against Manhattan that they have had that many players in double figures.Overall I was pleased with the direction, Hamilton said. The biggest challenge for us is to utilize the quality of the depth. Were trying to explain that we have to understand that each night it is going to be different guys that are going to step up. Were a team that is going to win by committee.Freshman Jonathan Isaac led the way with 20 points as the 2-0 Seminoles shot 58 percent from the floor (34 of 59) and were 30 of 42 when not shooting 3-pointers. Phil Cofer had 13 points and six rebounds while Terrance Mann (12), Jarquez Smith (12), Trent Forrest (10) and Dwayne Bacon (10) also scored in double figures.They also had nine players who saw 15 minutes or more of playing time as Hamilton continues to look for the best floor combinations.We just wanted to lock in and show people why we should be in the tournament. You cant decide that off two games but you just have to keep playing the way we were playing tonight, Bacon said.The Gaels led for most of the first five minutes before the Seminoles went on a 14-2 run for a 24-13 lead with 10:36 remaining. They would lead by as many as 18 in the first half and had a 47-32 advantage at halftime.FSU led by as many as 26 points midway in the second half as it extended its win streak in nonconference home games to 12.UConn transfer Sam Cassell Jr., who is the son of former NBA and Florida State standout Sam Cassell Sr., led Iona (0-1) with 28 points. Jordan Washington addded 16 and Jon Severe 12.dddddddddddd.The Gaels, who scored 37.3 percent of their points on 3-pointers last season, were 9 of 31 from beyond the arc.They have a lot more size than we have and when Jordan got in foul trouble it hurts our team, Iona coach Tim Cluess said. They did a good job of reversing and driving the ball on us along with really challenging us at the rim and getting us into foul trouble.BIG PICTUREIona: The Gaels lost six players from last years team that made the NCAA Tournament. With two sophomores in the starting lineup, they could struggle early in the season as coach Tim Cluess tries to work in six newcomers into the rotation.Florida State: Coach Leonard Hamilton was eager to see how his team would do against a quality mid-major opponent. The Seminoles struggled early, especially in their transition game, but freshmen Isaac and Forrest looked more relaxed in their second game, combining for 30 points.STAT OF THE NIGHTFlorida State is usually a good team from the free-throw line but it started out by missing seven of its first 10. The Seminoles though would end the night by making 24 of their last 30.HE SAID ITIt felt good getting on the court and playing down here. Its my fathers team. I wanted to beat him so I could talk trash to him but it is what it is. Cassell Jr.UP NEXTIona: The Gaels travel out west for a game against Nevada on Sunday. Ionas first six games are on the road and it doesnt have its first home game until Dec. 4 against Niagara.Florida State: The Seminoles host Winthrop on Friday as part of the NIT Season Tip-Off.---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Joe Reedy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/joereedy ' ' '