Prodigy Agency, one of the biggest esports talent agencies in the world, has announced that it is providing increased support to its CS:GO academy project, called The Prodigies.
The Prodigies is the brainchild of Jérôme Coupez, the founder and owner of Prodigy Agency, which represents some of the biggest esports talents in the world, including Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo, and Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski.
Coupez launched The Prodigies at the start of the year as a way to support and bring visibility to up-and-coming CS:GO players. The first two seasons in the ESEA platform acted as a testing ground for the project, with Coupez himself competing for the team. He also hired a production company to broadcast the team’s matches, and professional casters.
Some of the players have gone on to join professional teams, which strengthened Coupez’s conviction that he was doing the right thing. For ESEA Season 42, he is taking more of a hands-off approach, but for good reason: Through the support of a number of partners, The Prodigies have grown to the point that they now have six players, two coaches, and an analyst.
The selection process for the team began in late June and resulted in over 200 applications. That list was whittled down to 50 hopefuls, who took part in trials until the six finalists were determined.
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While part of The Prodigies, the players will receive a salary, mentorship from veterans like Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire and Nathan ‘NBK-‘ Schmitt, bootcamp opportunities and guidance from the company’s agents.
Despite the investment that has gone into the project, Coupez highlighted that the players will be able to join a professional team at any time, free of charge. The application process will remain open as he wants to continue to unearth the superstars of the next generation.
“It’s a project that is very important for me and I’ve been working on defining the concept with two initial pilot seasons,” Coupez said in a statement. “This is truly a ground-breaking project for the whole CS:GO ecosystem with the goal to give a once-in-a-lifetime chance for young and promising players, having their first salary and contract, and to be seen by all the professional teams.
“The traction that we are already having around the project is incredible and I can’t wait to push it way further in the future, with a lot of expansion ideas in mind. We are dedicating a lot of resources to support The Prodigies with Prodigy Agency but I’m also thankful to our partners who believe in this project and share our goal to support the young players: Razer, CS.Money, Scope.gg and Refrag.”
The Prodigies CS:GO roster
- Sebastiaan ‘Acorn’ Wehnes
- Timothy ‘tvs’ Sjöberg
- Sébastien ‘SBT’ Sabbadin
- Mihai ‘fNk’ Costache
- Nolen ‘noleN’ Vida
- August ‘Straxy’ Canavan
- Patrik ‘pakesZ’ Rozsos (coach)
- Oliver ‘kZy’ Heck (coach)
- Felix ‘Frøg’ Bergeron (analyst)