Squid on how WOTE champions equity: “It means that they’re getting an opportunity to showcase their skills in the way that everyone else is able to.”

The Milk Cup Finals event was a Fortnite esports tournament for women. It featured a $250,000 USD prize pool and a series of firsts for its competitors. For example, numerous teams flew out to LA Comic Con for the first time ever to meet their teammates in person and experience competing at a LAN. One of the key figures behind The Milk Cup was Squid from Women of the eRena (WOTE), and esports.gg sat down with her for an exclusive interview about the impact of this circuit, what it means to her, and more!

In her interview with esports.gg, Squid talked about her active involvement in supporting women in gaming through WOTE. The organization's goal is to provide visibility and opportunities for women in esports while also addressing the lack of representation in the industry. Squid then revealed that she's been a part of The Milk Cup since its inception, contributing to event planning, deciding on the right format, and figuring out how to make the circuit amazing for all of its competitors.

"This stuff is awesome. This is phenomenal. What it means to me is literally everything," Squid said. "I feel like people have purposes in life, and I feel like my purpose is to uplift other people to reach their goals, to make sure that they have opportunities, to give them at least a place and a stage to be able to start and do this."

She continued, noting that gaming is one of the most inclusive and accessible sports. It not only lets anyone participate, but also provides a safe space for people to connect and play online. She told esports.gg that it's inspiring to see women uplifted and celebrated in an environment like The Milk Cup, as they can receive the same recognition and respect as their male counterparts.

"It means that they're getting an opportunity to showcase their skills in the way that everyone else is able to," Squid explained.

Squid and esports.gg then talked about the difference between equality and equity, referring a particular image of people watching a baseball game. On the equality side, individuals stand on boxes of equal height, which limits their view of the field. Meanwhile, the equity side shows individuals standing on boxes of varying heights, allowing everyone to see the baseball game clearly. This illustrates that equity provides tailored support for fair access. The same lesson applies to women in esports.

"That changed my entire life," Squid said, referring to the aforementioned image. "That specifically changed my understanding of inclusion and diversity. And why is there even a fence in the first place?

"You know, it's truly amazing that Gonna Need Milk is here to support this. They see the potential in [the players]. They've seen our work at events. They've been able to see that there are people interested in this, there are people who participate in this and want to do this, and there are people that like to watch this.

"They see that and they're like, 'Yes, we want to support them. We want to do that for them' because their mission is to support women. It's phenomenal that they're able to do that."

The Milk Cup Finals event concluded on Oct. 5 with Moxie, Regsita, and dieyuhs as its first-ever winners, however, the Fortnite esports action will continue with the Winter Split. Squid will be working on this event as well.

"And after that, always doing more and more women's events," she said. "So always open, always excited and ready and hoping for things to come. Would love to see this happen again."

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more interviews, news, and updates!