Women in Swiss Esports: Sarah Vioget aka Dadai68

This week, we are thrilled to present Sarah Vioget aka Dadai68 as our latest female highlight in our series Women in Swiss Esports.

Sarah is from Valais and works as an assistant in a construction company. She formerly managed for 2 years an amateur esports association called Pishot Esports.

She is always keeping an eye on a competition in the French-speaking part of Switzerland called FER. She was one of the organizers of the 1st edition and continues to bring her experience from afar.

As a player, she enjoys playing adventure games because it allows her to escape into new imaginary places. She read a lot when she was younger and now she is pushing all this creativity into video games. In her free time, she loves spending a lot of time riding motorcycles and she hopes to see more simulators and events mixing sports and esports in the future.

Now that you have had a glimpse of who she is, it is now time to dive in her interview!

Seven Getting to Know You Questions:

Q1. What is your favorite dish?

"Bolognese pasta or pizza, hard to choose only one"

Q2. What is the best game you have ever played?

"The Legend of Zelda (Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess are my two favourites)"

Q3. Who made you love video games ?

"My elder siblings: my sister was mainly a WoW player, and my brother helped me discover FPS and strategic games"

Q4. If you could hold an esports event anywhere in the world, where would it be?

"New York – or Montreux (to show to the world that Swiss people can hold good esports events too)"

Q5. Are you on PC, Console or Mobile ?

"I’m mainly a PC gamer, but also on Nintendo consoles, from Super Nintendo to Switch."

Q6. If you could join any Esports team, who would that be ? (Swiss/Worldwide) "FNC (not as a player but as staff member)"

Q7. If you were a professional player, which game would you like to compete in ?

"League of Legends"

About Your Background And Career:

Q1. What made you come to esports and how did you get started?

"I watched some semi-pro teams on LoL. Then I started a discord to make friends on LoL and started to create amateur teams. It really escalated quickly and transformed into Pishot Esports over 2 years. Then I stopped as my mental health and private life were more important to me. As you probably know as an amateur you have to put all your time into it to make it succeed. And I didn’t want to make it into a professional career. It was only a hobby to me. "

Q2. How are you involved in esports at the moment ?

"I keep an eye on my previous players in new teams and I still watch pro matches (FNC). I also try to lend my experience to new events (FER = From Esports Romand) and attend some esports events when I have some spare time. For a few months now, I really put a lot of importance into “private” stuff, and my other hobbies i.e., motorbiking, snowboarding or travelling, rather than esports."

Q3. Where do you see yourself in esports in the next five years?

"Maybe as a counsellor for new people entering the world of esports. Helping people to keep in mind that their private life is very important and it can’t work if you only do esports without taking care of your mental/physical health.."

Representation & Inclusivity Questions

Q1. Do you feel that women and marginalised genders are represented well enough in esports? How about in Switzerland?

"It’s still very hard to be a woman in the video game industry. This problem is even worse in esports: you can see toxic or sexist people still getting important jobs in professional teams. It seems like staff in esports teams aren’t taking it seriously yet. We still need a lot more awareness regarding toxicity and marginalised genders to make a change."

Q2. What is currently the biggest challenge related to this topic and how would you start to overcome it?

"Awareness. A lot of people don’t realise the problem of being a woman in everyday life, and not being able to play like anyone else. Not a day goes past where you won’t have a bad comment on social media, in a game, or at your work. I think we need to explain to the close men around us (brothers, friends, fathers, uncles) how we are exposed to this, and make them change or speak about it. Men have to stop being shy when they hear a bad joke or a misogynistic comment. They have to be our voice too."

Q3. Do you feel there is any progress being made for representation on the scene?

"A bit yes. But there are a lot of “girls’ teams” created just to help organisations be seen as “good and ethical orgs”. Girls are often used by esports organisations as a means to show that they respect parity etc. I hope more inclusivity will be seen in the future."

Q4. If you could bring one thing in the industry to promote more inclusion, what would that be?

"I had an amateur org with a lot of women. It was working very well, and every man involved was respectful and aware of what being a woman or marginalized gender meant. I’d help women trust in their capabilities, and get higher jobs in organisations. For example, having private chats, to discuss how to apply and how to work in the industry (Women in Games France is very good at this)."

Q5. What do you think women can bring to the esports scene ?

"Creativity, freshness and sustainability. I feel like women won’t quit their job as soon as it doesn’t work. They will try to modify and change what's wrong before leaving the org. The women I had in my org were often smoother in their decisions and had a better way of explaining decisions to players/staff etc. I think we can work well with any gender and should stay open-minded."

If you want to know more about Dadai68 and her work within the Swiss esports scene, we invite you to visit her profile here.