TSM forms developmental team for young players

Team SoloMid has announced a “League of Legends Jr.” team designed to provide a path for younger competitors looking to one day go pro.

The team’s roster will consist of players who have demonstrated the “skill and drive” to play League of Legends on a professional level, but are currently too young to pursue their professional esports dream on a pro team.

Historically, young players have largely been left to figure out the path to professional play on their own, often without even the help of parents who might struggle to understand the games or their ambitions in them. This initiative from TSM aims to curb such issues.

The trainee team will practice online with TSM’s pro team coaching staff. The young squad will practice against other amateur teams and will compete in amateur tournaments.

The first three members of TSM Jr are jungler Austin “Sarcasm” Tran, mid laner Rico “Sword” Chen, and bot laner Johnson “Johnsun” Nguyen.

Sarcasm and Sword were invitees to the TSM Scouting Grounds event in December, according to the official announcement. TSM found Johnsun while scouting solo queue games through the use of internal metrics.

TSM Jr players will act as substitutes for the organization’s academy team, which was also created to develop and train players for the North American team..

TSM is no stranger to junior teams. After the Winter Royale qualifiers last year, the organization announced a Fortnite Jr. team for players under the age of 16. The signed talents were teenagers who couldn’t progress any further in the tournament due to age restrictions.

Team SoloMid is still searching for top and support player for their League of Legends junior team.