Astralis is launching a new talent development initiative to create a recruitment platform and training partner for its “A teams,” the organization announced today.
The initiative, called Astralis Talent, aims to contribute to the development of 14 to 20-year-old players by training them in the organization’s professional setup and integrating them into the performance culture of Astralis.
The Astralis Talent program will include League of Legends and CS:GO teams at first and will begin by working with Danish esports talents. Those who participate will be located in the same facilities as the “A teams” of Astralis and will have access to the same staff and tools as the org’s pros.
“Astralis Talent is an investment in the future as a possible recruitment platform for our A teams as well as inhouse training for all players,” said Astralis CEO Anders Hørsholt. “It is a way for us to secure an even better connection to the local ecosystem and over time, we hope to elevate players into our A teams.”
For League, the Astralis Talent coaches will be led by Mikkel Donby as the head coach and assisted by Anders Schultz. In the CS:GO branch, Dennis Vang will be the head coach and will also be an assistant for the org’s A team under Danny “zonic” Sørensen.
In 2021, the A team and the Talent team will be working out of the Copenhagen HQ while the Academy team will still be working and playing in the Spanish second division. “In Counter-Strike both the A team and talents will be working and playing out of Copenhagen and the talent team will compete in relevant regional tournaments,” said Kasper Hvidt, Astralis’ director of sports.
Hvdit also said the Astralis Talent team won’t affect the A team’s roster size in CS:GO, but it’s in the org’s plans to “fully integrate Astralis Talent into the overall performance and player development strategy” later in the future.
Published: Nov 12, 2020 09:57 am