The importance of being the first-time Champions

Last weekend GMT Esports has become the first champion of the VCL Italy: Rinascimento, which is one of the EMEA Challenger Leagues and the part of the new and expanded VALORANT Challenger Ecosystem. This win has also marked the first international trophy for GMT Esports.

To be completely fair, we were absolute favorites coming into the league however, we've started with a devastating 0-3 weekend, which has affected everyone in the organization both physically and mentally.

Nonetheless, we were able to pick things back up and secured a top 3 finish in the regular season and a slot in the playoffs.

I cannot say that the playoffs were a smooth ride, but we managed to qualify to the Grand Finals in a dominant manner.

As soon as we have qualified, we found out that the Grand Finals would actually take place in-person in Milan and would be organized on a very short notice by league operators @PGEsportsIT. Thankfully, the team was bootcamping in Geneva so the travel to Milan was just a car ride away.

On the day of the Grand Finals, I personally felt extremely calm and confident. I knew that the team will come out on top after the work that they have put in in the days leading up the Finals. As a result, a confident 3-1 win against DSYRE who have dominated the league from start to finish.

I think many of you will agree with me when I say that experiencing emotions has to be best part of being an owner of an org. Obviously, and this is something that I have mentioned several times - winning is important. Everyone in the team wants to win. The management wants to win, I want to win, the players want to win, the staff wants to win.

However, as the owner, I want to leave a positive impact and have this positive impact translated onto the community that allows us to experience these emotions. This is my ultimate goal.

The importance of being the first-time champions and winning our first trophy cannot and should not be undermined, but creating a movement that generates positive outcomes for the ecosystem should be at the center of any organization because it ensures the long-term development of the industry.