“There is a lot of room for growth”

The Argentine tennis player Diego Schwartzman, number 9 of the ATP classification, explained in dialogue with Efe that he decided to create the electronic sports team Stone Movistar and get involved in the world of sports because it is a “scene” with “a lot of room for growth.”

Schwartzman’s team, which includes Argentine swimmer Delfina Pignatiello, will compete in 2021 in League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Free Fire, Valorant, Fortnite and FIFA 21.

Stone Movistar will have an academy in the province of Buenos Aires and one of its goals is that “more and more women join the world” of electronic sports, traditionally dominated by men.

Question: How did your relationship with videogames begin and when did you begin to see them from a more competitive side?

Answer: It is a world that I have known for a long time, like all the generation of my age (28 years). In the last year or so I got more and more involved. First, we tried to understand a little more and see how we could participate, what space there was inside the scene to participate in a responsible way, trying to keep the scene growing.

Q: How did you decide to create an eSports team?

A: My brother more than anything, who is one of the legs of the Stone Movistar table, he got to know this world a lot, he got closer to corporate people who were getting involved in this world. He had many meetings to learn and find out what this whole world was like, then he transferred it to me and asked me if I wanted to get involved and have a team. We went step by step and here we are.

We have a lot to know but we are learning a little more every day and having fun. We have a team behind that is very good and works very well. The project will surely be a success.

Q: More and more athletes and traditional clubs are entering e-sports. Do you think it is a trend that is going to be sustained?

A: We athletes got involved because here in Argentina and in the region the scene is growing, there is a lot of room to grow. All the teams are doing a tremendous job, they have been growing and doing things well. That got us excited to get in. That is why many Argentines such as Guille Coria, ‘el Kun’ or I were informed and creating our own projects. I understand that it is something that will enhance the scene.

There is a lot of room for growth in the scene, beyond the fact that many teams and people had been doing things very well. There are many people who were born with consoles and who know the world, in quotes, and want to get involved and add their two cents.

Q: What can you tell us about the training aspect of the academy?

A: The Stone Movistar academy, and what perhaps many other teams are going to do in the near future, is to generate security in the people who compete and in the parents who send their children to play or who see their children playing. . We want to create a world of respect, solidarity, better competition and a healthy environment. It is something we want to target.

Q: According to the launch statement, one of the pillars of Stone Movistar is “to encourage the development of women gamers.” How and why did you make that decision?

A: We believe that the world and women are in a world revolution that is very good and it is a scene where there are many men and there are not so many women involved. It would be nice to be able to make them participate in the gamer world. That is one of the values ​​and objectives of the academy, that more and more women join this world.

Q: How important is it that Delfina Pignatiello is part of the team?

A: Delfi can be a very important flag because it has been streaming for a long time and very well. That she pulls from her side to involve more women is very important.

We aim, without a doubt, to try to involve many more women on the scene, that they are better and that they participate more and more. I come from a sport that I think is the most egalitarian in terms of prizes and others and it seems to me that it is something important if they can be added little by little and improving what is happening in the world: the inclusion of women in all areas and in which the world is more egalitarian in every way.

Q: What will be in the facilities of the Hacoaj Yacht Club?

A: We are going to do a gaming house that is going to be impressive. It will start to be done in January and hopefully it can be finished in February or March, with all the equipment for the professional teams that compete and the academy.