For 17-year-old Júlia “Mayumi” Nakamura, the spotlight couldn’t be more intense. Insanely talented and a living testament that female League of Legends players can compete with males at the highest level, she is both a trendsetter and also a role model. However, with gaming as an industry – and esports in particular – being notoriously male-dominated, it was inevitable that some of the trolls lurking among the supportive public would jump on this opportunity to denigrate and otherwise harass a professional player already feeling the pressure.

What wasn’t expected – but, perhaps, should have been – was that the most vile, and realistically dangerous, vitriol would come from her fellow professional players.

A disturbing and sexist incident

Having blown up overnight on social media such as Twitter and Weibo, Mayumi took on more than just the regular INTZ e-Sports mantle when she stepped into the vacant support position. Competing with the best of the best was a tall order for any rookie support, but Mayumi took this in stride – and put up more than solid performances on stage.

After stage games, it is customary for League of Legends players to shake hands with their opponents, in a display of sportsmanship and dignity. However, this gesture was perverted by one Pedro Luiz “LEP” Marcari.

On stream, one of those aforementioned trolls lurking around the esports public pitched a question. Roughly translated, it read as, “LEP, do you touch yourself inappropriately after shaking hands with Mayumi?”

Rather than ignore or voice disapproval of the suggestion, LEP instead corrected the inquisitor – laughing as he instead offered up that he “encourages everyone to do [that] before they shake her hand.”

Not only is this outright disgusting, inappropriate, and sexist, but it presents an unsafe environment for a teenage player to even be a part of. The fact it comes from an established player in his mid to late 20s is even more vile.

Mayumi, to her credit, handled this situation with grace. More grace than I would have been capable of at 17, and perhaps with more than I would have handled it had it happened to me today.

“What’s going on in the mind of this 25-year-old guy?” she tweeted, insinuating that he should know better than to make inappropriate comments to an underage female competitor.

Mayumi has suggested that the situation will be taken to court, and Mayumi’s team INTZ, fans, and the international community alike are rallying behind her.

INTZ’s statement ended with the declaration that, “given the facts, INTZ hopes that this case will be quickly resolved, and that the consequences will be taken by the competent authorities. Acts like these reinforce the need, not only for our club, but for the whole society to continue the fight against discrimination, prejudice and offenses of any nature and, especially, against women.”

This isn’t the first sexist League of Legends moment and it won’t be the last

The last time we had a female competitor in League of Legends, it was when Maria “Remilia” Creveling played on behalf of Renegades in the LCS.

Receiving more hate than any other player to set foot on that stage – despite being solidly average in terms of performance – Remilia’s ordeal was a heartbreaking one. Her love of League and her talent both inspired her to continue on the path to pro, but it was no secret that the stress of the community’s utter disregard for her feelings and their lack of decency really did cut deep.

This, however, didn’t stop Remilia from trying – instead, the veteran support was still trying to make it on the big stage when she suddenly passed away in December.

One would hope that this would serve as a wake-up call for people to be kinder to each other, but the abhorrent behavior of toxic individuals within the community still persists.

Sensitivity training should be mandatory

It’s ironic that the offending party in Mayumi’s case is LEP, a player who had to go through multiple stages of sensitivity training during the Season 4 World Championship. Every player that attended Worlds that year had to do so, after then-SK Gaming jungler Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen changed his account name to “Taipei Ching Chong,” poking fun at a fan’s expense while travelling internationally.

Clearly, said sensitivity training wasn’t enough to make LEP act as a decent human being this time around, but perhaps Riot should push for it during every split of regional competition, too.

Do you think regular sensitivity training should be mandatory for esports athletes? Definitely 55%, 53 votes 53 votes 55% 53 votes - 55% of all votes

Not really 45%, 44 votes 44 votes 45% 44 votes - 45% of all votes Total Votes: 97 Voting is closed Poll Options are limited because JavaScript is disabled in your browser.

Short of “treat others decently,” “this is a job as well as a hobby,” and “you are public figures as well as memers,” a sensitivity training course can only be so general without addressing concerns directly.

I would think that a reasonable assumption to make is that whatever PR training the player’s associations give didn’t account for sexism, given the professional scene’s lack of female competitors before Remilia and Mayumi. There is still zero excuse for the way these players have been – and, in some cases, continue to be, treated.

That isn’t to say LoL Esports officials have been negligent. General rules regarding how to treat your fellow professionals – and fellow human beings – have to have been established, and sensitivity training is a way of enforcing this without too much pushback.

Facilitating a healthy environment for all to compete on equally is the foundation of every sport. This incident hasn’t set that back, so much as made people more aware of others’ plights and the discrimination certain groups face within the esports sphere. It’s just unfortunate that it had to come at the expense of a talented individual who has set out to prove herself on the stage that she belongs on. A stage where she didn’t expect – or deserve – to be harassed.