EAGAN, Minn. — There are girls who play video games...and then there are the pros.
The women of Version X – Minnesota's first professional all women's e-sports team – are at the top tier of Esports, but they too had humble beginnings.
"My grandma, she actually introduced me into gaming, so she bought the Super Nintendo a long time ago and then we would battle on games like Mario Kart and Bomber Man," Natty Jackson said.
"I stuck to smaller games like Club Penguin and stuff, and then when I was 14, boom, back to Counter Strike, my dream game," Kiara Makua said.
But now for Jackson, Makua, Rachel Hang and Katherine Lee, their game of competition is Valorant.
A five versus five, first-person shooter game that challenges them not just online, but offline.
"This game is very teamwork oriented so if we are not all communicating and participating in a game, we'll most likely lose – it's a team-based game," Makua said.
Getting here, to be recognized and signed by a pro organization didn't happen by chance.
All these women had full-time jobs, full-time school before signing.
"Before all this, I was working like a nine-to-five job, and figuring out the whole schedule, practice, coming home from work. It was kind of crazy," Hang said. "But wanted to put a lot of time into gaming because I didn't want to give up."
"For me, since I'm still 16, I had to still go through high school, and kind of give up," Lee said. "I put more work into gaming than I put into high school because I knew my future wouldn't be in school, I put more attention onto gaming. My grades did fall but I still tried to pass at least."
And now, as they settle into their relatively new spots in Eagan, they're also settling into new roles as role models for girls who game.
"The older generation, we're kind of paving the way for the younger generation to step into e sports as well and also them – younger generations seeing the older generations playing, they feel more comfortable playing, and it's more of a safer spot to play," Makua said.
"I think it is important to have representation like us, in the community just so they have someone to look up to, and since the gaming community is a smaller community, those individuals can always reach out to us too," Jackson said. "Our DM's are open, if people have questions about how to go pro, or what it's like, we can always have that space for conversation as well."
You can find the team members' social media handles here:
Naomi's Twitter:https://twitter.com/NaomiFPS
Twitch: http://twitch.tv/naomifps
Rush aka Rachel's Twitter: https://twitter.com/rushhh___
Twitch: http://twitch.tv/rushhh__
Natty aka Natalia's Twitter: https://twitter.com/NattyFPS
Twitch: https://t.co/n3BMV7gSC4
Karra aka Katherine's Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarraOf
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/karratv
Kiara aka Milkyway's Twitter: https://www.twitch.tv/malk
Twitch: https://twitter.com/BasedGodMilk