The 23-year-old from Graz is the only female player in the Prime League, where the best League of Legends players in German-speaking countries currently compete. There, she plays as a support in the 1st Division – comparable to the 2nd Bundesliga in soccer.

“I have pressure on me because I don’t want to disappoint. The people who trust me to play well and all the women who are behind me,” Maestra says before her first competition in a mixed team. “It’ll work out,” she adds confidently.

Like other team sports, e-sports involves training. In the morning and at noon, Maestra writes her master’s thesis. Training matches follow in the evening. The matches are analyzed, mistakes are discussed. There are individual coaching sessions and team meetings. You have to be willing to devote a lot of your free time to e-sports, she says. Not many women are willing to do that, she says.

As a rule, teams in e-sports are not explicitly created as men’s teams. For eight professional e-sports organizations that responded to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur’s inquiry, the matter is clear: They would like to include more women in the teams. There are just none playing at the highest level, they said. In addition, he said, there are far fewer women overall who apply at all. In the end, one is left with a predominantly male selection.

According to the industry association game, almost half of gamers are women. However, women are still widely used as an entertainment factor at events and online channels instead of being placed in content positions, is how Jana Möglich, Equal Opportunities Officer at the eSports Nord association, describes the problem.

LoL publisher Riot Games last published player statistics in 2012. At that time, over 90 percent of active players were male. Maestra also reports a female share of ten to 15 percent from her experience.

In addition, Benjamin Schlotzhauer, CEO of the e-sports organization BlackLion, writes that there are more reasons for the low proportion of women: lack of role models, lack of experience of the organizations, open sexism in the community.

Maestra has also had to defend herself against the prejudice of not having earned her rank herself. “Of course, men who play a bad game also get flamed, that is, insulted. But not because of gender,” she says. She herself hardly ever looks at the chat. “There is a mute function where chat messages are no longer displayed.”

It has also become established in the industry for team members to live and train together in gaming houses, she said. “When you live so close together, it turns out to be difficult to have women and men on a team together,” says Alexander Müller of SK Gaming.

Both other organizations and Maestra perceive this as a problem. “Organizations are concerned about preventing fights or jealousies, which could possibly be if there is a woman on the team,” she says. However, she herself has not yet lived in a mixed team house.

Jana Möglich observes that e-sports are becoming more and more mainstream. With the initiative “Diversity plays here” and the associated Diversity Guide, the industry association game has set an example. The eSports Association Germany (ESBD), which currently has an all-male executive committee, has also founded its own gender diversity committee in 2019.

“In our eyes, the numerous phrases “we are open to all” are just not enough in the current situation,” emphasizes Möglich. Teams, clubs and organizations, as well as event organizers, must show “actual commitment and meaningful support measures,” according to the Equal Opportunities Officer.

Some organizations believe separate affirmative action is a mistake. The reasoning goes like this: Women and men are equal, therefore they should not be treated differently. This ignores the fact that girls and women in e-sports are nevertheless perceived and treated quite differently. “Few girls see e-sports as a realistic path for themselves because it is not attributed to their role – the identification potential is missing,” writes Möglich.

Most organizations, however, are in favor of promoting girls and women. SK Gaming, for example, has set up performance centers in Berlin and Cologne. Female players would be given the opportunity to train there under professional conditions without having to live with their teammates right away.

Maestra is one of the few female role models. In Austria, she is committed to bringing e-sports closer to girls and boys at school. In the Prime League, she is currently in midfield with her team Aequilibritas (AEQ). Three wins and three losses – that’s good enough for sixth place out of ten in the 1st Division. Her dream? To move up to the Pro Division at some point and pursue e-sports full-time.