Overwatch League gets its first female coach

Kyoung Ey Molly Kim has been hired by the Overwatch League's Washington DC team, making her the first woman to coach in Activision Blizzard's high-profile competition.

The Washington DC team is one of eight introduced to the Overwatch League since the close of its first season. Kyoung Ey Molly Kim, also known as "Avalla", has joined the still unnamed team along with analyst Mikael "mkL" Skjønhaug.

In addition to being a top-ranking Overwatch player in South Korea, Avalla has previously held coaching roles at Frescia Gaming, OpTic Academy and Meta Bellum. She is the first woman to coach in the Overwatch League, which attracted criticism for its lack of diversity after fielding just one female player in its first season.

"They bring international experience and a great work ethic," said Hyeong-seok "WizardHyeong" Kim, head coach of the Washington DC team, of the new hires. "Together, we're well on our way to building the best coaching staff in the league."

Earlier this week, we published an interview with Hearthstone pro Cordelia Chui and League of Legends team manager Amy Snowdon on the need for visible women in esports. You can read it here.