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ENCE, one of Europe’s leading Counter-Strike teams, have taken steps to develop new talent. The European esports organization has acquired five Finnish young players, a head coach, and a program lead to launch its CS:GO esports academy division.
About six months ago the ENCE Academy program was initiated, which led to the procurement of the services of Eemeli “Woomera” Ikonen, who was named the head of the academy program. After combing through a long list of applications, the organization recruited George “Whitey” White, who previously coached UK teams such as Vexed and Endpoint academy, as the academy’s head coach.
The organization filtered through numerous entries of potential players and organized closed tryouts in a bid to secure the perfect roster. The successful academy roster features in-game leader Veeti “S1rva” Sirva, riflers Ville “myltsi” Vilkman, Henri “HENU” Ylilehto, and Youssef “juissi” Adam, and AWPer Paavo “podi” Heiskanen.
The selection process was also done through a partnership with a third-party matchmaking platform, Esportal. Together with Esportal, ENCE selected this academy roster after spending months analyzing multiple candidates from academy ladders and cups.
“Our cooperation with Esportal has given us the opportunity to have a natural and effective way to scout potential talents,” Woomera said in a press release.
“For several weeks we had the privilege to try out and interview some incredibly talented players. Throughout the tryouts, everyone displayed a great sense of team spirit.
“We had the pleasure of witnessing fantastic individual performances, but most importantly, all players showed a desire to be a part of the first-ever ENCE Academy team. In addition to the Finnish players, we also saw a plethora of talented international players. Again, I want to thank each and every player who participated in the tryouts for their incredible output – I’m sure each of you will go far if you keep putting in the work.”
According to coach Whitey, ENCE chose this group of players because their styles, roles, and personalities “fit really well”. Even though results are important to the organization, the main goal moving forward is to improve every player in and out of the server.
In August, ENCE Academy will make their LAN debut at the Assembly Summer CS:GO Pro Tournament in Finland, which intends to feature some of the best domestic teams.
