The scholarship student will have the chance of a place in the eSports squad for the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL). Applicants aged at least 16 will undergo a multi-week selection process.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen has become one of the top clubs in virtual football in Germany in recent years. Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ De Cae (Xbox) and Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin (PS4) finished an impressive third in the VBL in the 2019/20 season; ‘DETO’ crowned the season by winning the title of PS4 champion. Since the start of the current campaign, Anna ‘B04_Anna’ Klink, the Bayer 04 Women’s team goalkeeper, and Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr have joined the Leverkusen eSports squad. While Klink is mainly involved between the sticks on real turf in Germany’s top women’s league, the 18-year-old Landwehr is regularly involved in VBL matchdays.
And the new #B04eSports talent is set to be an integral part of the Bayer 04 VBL squad from the autumn of 2021. To secure a place in the sports college of the virtual Werkself team, the applicant has to undergo a comprehensive selection process: For starters, Bayer 04 will host a number of online tournaments to scout the first talents. If the pandemic allows it, two finalists will take part in a finals event in the Schwadbud at the BayArena in adherence with the strictest hygiene protocols. The best up-and-coming eSports athletes will be ‘tested’ in the areas of playing ability, handling social media and soft skills qualities.
The talent who impresses Bayer 04 most in this phase will receive a one-year grant for the sports boarding college, which was also attended by players like Kai Havertz. Within the framework of this education provision, the Werkself provide daily training sessions to develop skills in the following areas: game skills, tactics coaching, match analysis, PR work/handling social media, nutrition and fitness advice, academic training/support.
The application for a place as a #B04eSports talent starts with registration for one of the online tournaments offered. Applications for the tournament is possible from 1 February and shared via the #B04eSports social media channels. Any candidate who meets the eligibility requirements will automatically be entered in the selection process.
About #B04eSports:
Bayer 04 Leverkusen became involved in eSports over four years ago. The Werkself are also a founding member of the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL), the official eSports Bundesliga in the FIFA mode. In the second VBL season in 2019/20, Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin, eSports player at Bayer 04, won the title of PS4 champion. Leverkusen occupy an impressive third place in the club rankings in the of the Club Championship.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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