German esports organization BIG has officially entered into women’s CS:GO as they announced the signing of equipa’s roster.
Equipa, who will now play under the name BIG EQUIPA, are a prominent Spanish squad who had qualified for the ESL Impact League Season One Finals, due to take place starting June 3 in Dallas. They will now continue that journey with the enhanced resources of one the more prominent names in European Counter-Strike.
BIG sign women’s CS:GO roster
In a statement released May 25, BIG said that expanding its CS:GO department to include a women’s team had “been on the horizon” for the organization for multiple years. The move to sign equipa’s roster officially brings BIG into the rapidly growing women’s CS:GO scene.
Quoted in the release was Team Captain Aidy “Aidy” García Cortés, who expressed her joy at the move:
“Joining an organization with so much Counter-Strike history is such an honor! We have always believed that with hard work good things would come.”
Our Counter-Strike family just got bigger! Please give a warm welcome to BIG EQUIPA! 🔥
📰 https://t.co/mbGQdV5RrF pic.twitter.com/FSBGmmC3Wx
— BIG (@BIGCLANgg) May 25, 2022
BIG Equipa’s first test will come on June 3, when they begin play at the ESL Impact League Season One Finals in Dallas. The ESL Impact League was launched in 2021 by ESL to help promote the female CS:GO scene. The Grand Final takes place at DreamHack Dallas, which also plays host to the IEM Dallas event.
The eight-team ESL Impact League Grand Finals will see BIG Equipa take on the likes of North American legends Counter Logic Gaming Red, fellow European qualifiers Nigma Galaxy Female, and strong South American teams such as FURIA Esports Female.
As well as signing equipa’s roster, BIG signed Spanish coach Jonathan “MusambaN1” Torrent, who had been with MAD Lions since 2018 until the recent closure of the Madrid-based org’s CS:GO division.
In the press release, BIG CGO Christian Lenz commented on his hopes for what this move would mean for the women’s CS:GO scene going forwards:
“It’s an important step for us to support the female Counter-Strike scene, and a personal matter for me…Hopefully orgs like our friends from NaVi stepping into the female szene will motivate even more women to start playing on a professional level again.”
The ESL Impact League Season One Finals begin with a double-elimination group stage on June 3. The top four teams will progress to single-elimination knockouts played on June 5.
Header: BIG