Article content continued

As my daughter’s team’s coach, I’d like to say I could take some credit for their win. But beyond offering a smattering of advice – divide and conquer, don’t forget to ink around your spawn point – I really wasn’t much help at all. These kids just knew how to play. And they had the grit not to buckle under pressure – even when facing down a pair of teenagers who towered over them.

It’s also worth noting that of all the teams present my daughter’s was the only one not just with a contingent of female players, but a majority; three girls and just one boy.

The youngest girl was only eight, and she was a crack assassin, always aware of where her enemies were. She had mastered the art of diving down in her own ink at just the right time to hide before popping up to splat any enemies who passed her by. My kid’s friend, an 11-year-old girl, did a terrific job of covering turf, never missing an opportunity to coat a chunk of dry ground with a precise splash of colour. And my daughter? Well, let’s just say I beamed with pride when her entire team – including the one boy, who was probably the best splatter on the team – voted her the strongest overall player, ensuring she had a spot in the two-person final.

Many people still seem to think of gaming as a hobby at which boys are particularly well-suited to excel. But the simple fact is that the physical advantages that boys hold over girls in traditional sports – greater size and strength – don’t count for much when it comes to video games. Indeed, we’ve plenty of examples of talented women in professional gaming – like Canada’s own Stephanie Harvey (A.K.A. missharvey), who belongs to the U.S.’s formidable Counter Logic Gaming Red team and has won five Counter-Strike world championships – who serve as proof that women can be just as good as men in eSports.