All-female Sibol team tells doubters: 'Wag tayong maging misogynist'

MANILA, Philippines — GrindSky Eris will be making history for Philippine esports as they are set to be the first all-female squad to compete in the Southeast Asian Games.

After conquering Sibol's national team qualifiers, GrindSky Eris will represent the country in League of Legends: Wild Rift in the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi this May.

And the female gamers had one thing to remind everyone: don't be misogynist.

"Masyado nilang inuunderestimate yung mga female pagdating sa mga ganitong categories, which is hindi naman dapat, wala naman yan sa gender eh," said GrindSky Eris captain Christine Ray "Rayray" Natividad during Sibol's kick off press conference on Thursday.

"Dapat nasa kagustuhan yan ng tao kung para ba siya dito... 'Wag tayong maging misogynist," she added.

GrindSky Eris already proved their mettle as the team to beat after ruling the SEA eSports Championship 2021 Wild Rift Tournament last January.

Now with a chance to flash their dominance anew in the larger stage of the SEA Games, the women of GrindSky Eris hope to inspire the next generation of female esport athletes.

"Being the only women's team that will represent the Philippines at the SEA Games primarily gives us some sense of pride and we want to show that, as a woman, we can compete in the same stage as men and that in the end, we can and we will be named victors," said Angel Danica "Angelailaila" Lozada.

"This also gives a different ground for women empowerment and we aim to empower other females, inspire other women to step up," she added.

GrindSky Eris makes up just one of the 10 teams to compete for Sibol in the SEA Games. The national team is aiming for seven of the gold medals in the biennial meet.

In 2019, when esports made its SEA Games debut, the Philippines won three of six gold medals in the events.