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Coventry Crosshairs have always been an inclusive organisation and team within Esports, from their acceptance of any LGBTQ+ players onto their teams to their teams' primary colours somewhat unintentionally but proudly represents the bisexual flag. Having won the Top Collegiate Organisation Award at the*GameHERS awards in November, it's safe to say that the Crosshairs are an LGBTQ+ friendly team. With their most recent merchandise release they may have one upped even themselves.
The recent pride merch drop from Coventry Crosshairs allows players and fans alike to sport this new pride jersey featuring rainbow stripes and band as well as a pride flag located above the chosen name and number of the fan or player, this creates an opportunity for people to either represent the LGBTQ+ community by having their name with the flag or as 1 fan of the team who wished to stay anonymous “As a transgender supporter I can put my chosen name on the jersey under the pride flag and have the year I came out, this is a great opportunity for me and all other transgender supporters to be able to represent who we really are!”. The ability to customise each individual jersey as you can any other was a genius move by the Crosshairs management as while this new jersey obviously stands out from the rest of their merchandise it doesn’t make it feel different, or as one crosshairs fan eloquently said “everyone is unique but that doesn’t mean we can't all do the same things and anyone has to be made different” which as a bisexual gamer and fan of the Crosshairs, I couldn’t agree with more and these jerseys demonstrate this perfectly.
The Crosshairs emphasis on inclusion has brought a large fanbase however many of their players are also part of the LGBTQ+ community, one such player who request to be referred to only as N/B was quoted to say “it is nice to know that you are accepted by the team you play under, its educational and comfortable to know people are welcoming no matter if they are teachers or managers.” Coventry Crosshairs are a shining example of how teams can be both inclusive and successful therefore demonstrating that teams do not have to choose between the 2 with the Women's Overwatch team being one of the most successful teams currently under the Crosshairs umbrella and both the Valorant and Rocket League finding success in their own tournaments the Crosshairs truly are a prime example of successful inclusivity within gaming.
Coventry Crosshairs continued inclusion of LGBTQ+ themes within their brand is something all Esports teams and worldwide businesses should strive to do, Crosshairs prove their support of LGBTQ+ groups every day of the year and shows their support Crosshairs have included pride themes in their standard logo and help the lives of many LGBTQ+ players and fans within their community through merch and charity work making them a staple of inclusivity within the collegiate Esports scene and within British Esports I say this as both a member of the Crosshairs community and a member of the LGBTQ+ community as long as more teams follow in the footsteps of inclusive teams like Crosshairs the Esports scene will remain a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community to be included and thrive. Esports is for everyone!
https://esk.gg/collections/coventry-crosshairs
Written by Harry Hartopp of Coventry College