Women are making their mark in every profession around the globe, and eSports is no different. And Girlaxy — an all-girl eSports team from Singapore — is right there at the forefront of the movement to help and inspire aspiring female gamers to carve out their own space in the traditionally male-dominated world of gaming.

Girlaxy is the sister team of the famous Team Impunity based in Singapore and boasts an all-girl roster. Girlaxy even has an extended team based in India called Girlaxy India. The group is well respected in the world of League of Legends and Arena of Valor but gaming is not the only thing they do. The ladies also runs the Girlaxy Facebook page and develops gaming content for their audience and has deep-rooted involvement in the gaming community, especially helping out and motivating female gamers.

T2 Online caught up with Girlaxy's captain and manager Apollonia Hinds, aka Glxy Apollonia, and quizzed the 23-year-old about her passion, Girlaxy and women in gaming.

Apollonia is currently the overall captain and manager of Girlaxy, with an extended team in India

When did you first start gaming?

I started online gaming at around age 9, which was Runescape. I then ventured into different types of games such as MapleSEA, AuditionSEA and Blackshot in my younger days. League of Legends was the one which I felt was my true calling which I’ve been actively playing, competing and contributing to its community for almost 4-5 years now.

What are the key necessities for a person to hone professional success?

I think the key characteristics to have is passion and determination. If a player is determined to make the most out of their competitive play or even streaming capabilities where they can be very involved with the game/community, they’d slowly earn their own successes. Passion basically drives a player to do all of the above.

Tell us about your first ever competitive game

My first competitive experience with Girlaxy was when I was just a player and not the captain. We were playing another all-female team in an exhibition match. There was a lot of pressure since I was a very new player compared to the other girls on my team and the opponents. Nevertheless, it was exciting as well as I was very eager to show the community that I could quite possibly be the best at the role I played in.

Tell us about the downs of your gaming career, and how did you cope with them?

I’ll admit that I do have a very loud and “in-your-face” personality. There have been people who don’t understand my passion and regard for fair play. I like being over the top in most cases as it’s part of my personality. I have received a lot of hate online and people even tried impersonating me to frame me for things I never did such as bad behaviour/toxicity in game. They’ve also tried to torment my teammates but we pretty much aren’t phased by it because we do have some of the loveliest supporters.

Which was your most memorable match?

Last year, 2017, at a show match at an opening of a LAN cafe. We faced off against one of the strongest lady teams and we managed to beat them. We had been trying to take a win against them for two years and it finally happened. I was facing high levels of anxiety during the match and my teammates were more worried about me. The moment we hit the victory screen, they came running to see if I was okay and honestly that’s the beauty of having such loyal/trustworthy teammates. Definitely a match I will forever remember.

Team Girlaxy during a LoL event

What are the biggest challenges when trying to make a mark in a traditionally male-dominated industry?

There's a stigma in the gaming community where females are generally bad gamers. We aim to show that gaming has no gender at all. We love games just as much as anyone else.

What's your and Girlaxy's roadmap to empower women gamers?

To give them the confidence and not be beaten down by the words of others. It's okay to be a female and play games. The community we've created, specifically in League of Legends called Eve of Legends, allow women to connect with one another without being judged. A strong support system where women feel safe is most important to me and my team.

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