At IEM Katowice, we got to speak to Katherine “CAth” Leroux from Team Dignitas. Dignitas went on to win the CS:GO Intel Challenge Katowice after beating CLG Red quite comfortably in a two-map final and overcoming Besiktas in the semi-final. In this interview, we talked about the thrill of victory and the possibility of mixed-gender CS:GO teams in the future.

Daily Esports: Congratulations on your massive win against CLG. Your team actually defended the title here in Katowice [for Intel Challenge Katowice]. How do you feel about this huge achievement?

CAth: For me, actually, it’s the first time that I won the tournament because I joined Dignitas just a few months back. So winning this really means the world to me and to us just because we put in so much work every day to prove that we’re really champions. Proving that to the world and everybody really just feels amazing.

DES: That’s great. So you’ve obviously had a fantastic game against CLG on both maps. Did you actually make some preparations against CLG specifically, or did you just rely on your aim mostly?

CAth: I’d say that we make the usual preparations. I think we just focus on our game plan. We just stick to it, [and] try and not play scared. There’s no real “counter-strating” going on; we just really play our game.

DES: We’re really curious about the female Counter-Strike scene. Do you think that it’s actually going in the right direction, or do you think that something should be changed so it gets more exposure in the future? What do you think about that?

CAth: I think that now, every year there’s more and more tournaments. There’s more patrons, there’s more players getting into it, and I think the main reason why there’s even female tournaments in the first place is just to get more female gamers into the scene. And those tournaments allow them to see that it’s possible to be a female gamer and be successful, so I think they’re very important for that. I’d say maybe in the long run, in the long term, I think in the best of the worlds, there would be no female tournaments. People would just compete under one scene.

DES: So do you consider the possibility of having actually mixed-gender teams in the future?

CAth: Of course, yeah, but I don’t think we’re there yet. There’s just so little female players compared to male players, and in the short-term those tournaments allow more females to get interested and start actually playing and focusing more on esports.

DES: What are your team’s plans for 2019?

CAth: Well, we’re actually not done. There’s another female tournament in Copenhagen [Copenhagen Games] in the beginning of April, so we’re gonna keep grinding for that. Also, me and my teammate rain, the Canadians, we’re gonna play for the WESG [World Electronic Sports Games], the World Championship in China, so we’re grinding for that and hopefully we’ll get the W over there too.

DES: Alright. I wish you all the best of luck, and thank you so much for your time.

CAth: You’re welcome, [laughs] thank you.

CAth imagines a world where the gender barrier would be eliminated completely and we’d see male and female players competing together. Despite admitting that the world isn’t ready for that quite yet, she seems to be hopeful for the future. Meanwhile, CAth has a busy 2019 with Copenhagen Games as well as WESG coming up soon, representing her country, Canada. We wish all the best to CAth and her team in 2019. Hopefully, we will see them lifting more trophies this year just like at IEM Katowice.

What do you think of mixed gender teams? Is it something achievable in esports? Let us know in the comments below. For more CSGO coverage, check out our interviews with Lekr0, Jkaem, and FalleN!