On August 27, Beijing time, Team EG won the Intrepid Contract Global Championship, just before winning the championship, the big esports interviewed EG coach Potter (interview on August 17).
Q: How do you evaluate the performance of the EG since the Global Championship?
Coach Potter: We started the championship as a whole slowly, in fact, every game we felt that the pistol game was not as good as we thought, and compared to the Tokyo Masters, I could also feel as if many teams were more defensive against us, so we didn't have much respite.
A lot of times we need to do our best, and we have to play very hard from the beginning. This is not a bad thing for us, we may not seem so dominant on paper, but it means that we have to constantly work towards the same goal. In a big event like this, it's very important and very important to move forward together, and I think it makes us more cohesive.
Q: As one of the few female coaches, do you receive information from other women who want to work as esports coaches or esports players?
Coach Potter: Really, I get a lot of information about them wanting to start working as a women's coach, and I think it really broadens people's horizons.
In fact, at the beginning, I also questioned whether I could do it, but gradually through my own experience, I found that I can be qualified for this position, which is a new challenge. A lot of people are also more skeptical that I can do it, a lot of eyes are on me, my story may give people more inspiration and encouragement, and I do get a lot of news saying that I want to be a women's coach, which I think is a very cool thing.
At the same time, I also feel that I can go further and further with my team, and it feels very good to have this opportunity.
Q: How popular do you think Valorant is in the US? What is the reason for the popularity?
Coach Potter: From the first time I entered the Valorant waiting hall, I felt different from other games. Some games are in, others may say that there is another girl, and they will be a little surprised, but it is a very common thing in the Intrepid contract.
We always see different women playing games, and then there are a lot of people playing, and everyone finds it very interesting, which is a very exciting and new thing.
I think that in fact, not everyone may want to be the best in the game, so they must strive for the highest in the game, but having such a choice is also a very interesting thing. There is a 16-year-old girl who competes with a lot of boys in the minor league, she can beat a lot of people, and she has a very bright performance. So
In the future, I am also very much looking forward to seeing more women, bringing more different possibilities, and gradually becoming a mainstay in this industry.
Q: Which do you think is more difficult to be a female coach or a female player?
Coach Potter: I think it's harder to be a coach because as a player you don't care too much about a lot of other things in the outside world, you're very young, you have a lot of time, and the only thing you need to do is play the game well. Players generally do not feel the difficulties and obstacles in life, and more to enjoy.
But as a coach, there are a lot of things that need to be done, and the problem of age, the need to re-plan the whole life, is actually a very challenging thing for me. It takes 13 hours a day on the Intrepid Contract, which you need to love and commit to and then rise to the challenge.
Q: What is the biggest obstacle for women to play professionally? Is there any way to overcome these problems?
Coach Potter: I think it's more about ability. Maybe so far we haven't seen a female player have particularly strong individual abilities, but she may reach another level of individual ability. I've met a lot of players before, and many of them are the kind of shooters who play well, but it takes time to play accurately, and we'll probably see it in a decade or so.
Q: Intrepid Contract Women's Esports may be the most successful women's league right now, how do you evaluate the Intrepid Women's League?
Coach Potter: I think it's a very exciting thing, women's is where I started, women really need that opportunity. Gradually forming such a system will allow women to at least have the possibility to become professional.
But I'm also a little bit disappointed, a lot has happened in this year's women's league. But last year, the women's league actually had a lot of bright performances. I hope that in 2024 or 2025, everything will return to normal and let everyone see the maximum possibilities and potential of the women's league.
Q: Can you give some advice to women who want to be players or coaches?
Coach Potter: I always think it's funny to ask me to give advice, but if I really give advice, I would say that I want people to take as much risk as possible and accept the possibility of failure. Because I think in the process of growing up, whether it is myself or the people around me, many times everyone will be afraid of failure and afraid to face failure. But you need to go through failure to know what is lacking in order to close this gap.
Don't be afraid to fail, take as many risks as possible, and then do it.