League of Legends team Schalke 04 revealed a new jersey today to “set a sign for more mindfulness regarding mental health within esports.” It costs $57 and half of the proceeds from it will be donated to the Robert-Enke-Stiftung Foundation in Germany.
Schalke’s players will wear this jersey in their upcoming matches to promote the model and spread this message.
The Robert-Enke-Stiftung Foundation supports projects that research heart diseases for children, as well as depression and other mental health issues.
Mental health is an issue that only recently started being tackled in esports. The biggest organizations have hired psychologists in recent years, but this remains something that most medium-sized esports teams can’t afford in this growing industry.
Last May, the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association emphasized the importance of the matter in the industry and said it’d check if CS:GO teams are providing players with a mental health hotline, individual meetings, and other tools to “create a more sustainable working environment for professional players.”
The lockdown measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic have also worsened the situation for some people who struggle with mental health issues, which makes this project by Schalke all the more important.
Schalke04 had issues in the Spring Split after all eyes were on Forg1ven during the 2020 LEC Spring Split as the central piece of their roster. But after a disastrous start, FORG1VEN announced that he was quitting the team unless changes were made. Schalke promoted academy ADC Nihat “Innaxe” Aliev to the main roster, who showed that he’s worthy of being in the LEC.
Even though Schalke’s journey ended last split without them even reaching the playoffs, they did have a Cinderella story in the second round of the regular split. They won their first game with Innaxe subbing in against the undefeated, undisputed leader, G2.
With a fresh start, Schalke was expected to be looking to contend for at least a playoff spot this summer. But after their poor start the chances are very slim. The boys in blue picked up the steam in the recent weeks, but it’s unclear wherever it will be enough for them to reach the playoffs.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the boys in blue will perform in the last remaining matches, if they will be able to continue their cinderella story and reach at least a playoff spot. Without reaching playoffs, their season will be over and no possibility to participate at the World Championship.
