/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/52661765/28671921144_01b4f0f5e7_k.0.jpg)
Prominent sports psychology trainer and performance consultant Weldon Green, who has recently worked with top esports brands CLG, Fnatic and (most recently) TSM, has joined the coaching staff of two-time defending European League of Legends champions G2 Esports, the team announced in a press release Sunday.
“Weldon’s proven experience and know-how propelled every team he has worked with towards remarkable levels of success,” G2’s founder and CEO, Carlos “ocelote” Rodríguez Santiago, said in the release. “His skillset will help our club progress towards our ambitious competitive goals. On a personal level, I am honoured to work with an individual with such strong planning, hunger and will to win.”
Ocelote also said Green will be moving to G2’s gaming house in Berlin, and will hold the title of assistant coach. G2’s head coach is former professional player Joey “YoungBuck” Steltenpool.
“I am very excited to be working with Weldon this year,” Youngbuck said in the release.” With his strengths in performance coaching and his experience working with several top LCS teams, he will be a great addition to our coaching staff.”
Green became well-known while with CLG and Fnatic, but his profile exploded while with Team SoloMid in North America over the past year. The team put together one of the best regular season splits in LCS history before rolling through the playoffs and eventually defeating Cloud9 3-2 in the NA LCS finals. After a disappointing exit in the Worlds group stage, Green departed TSM and will now return to Europe.
“G2’s roster going into 2017 is a testament to the team and company culture,” Green said in the release. “Very few organisations [sic] can boast the credibility, success, and infrastructure to attract, and keep, world class players through the off-season. My main focus this split is building and maintaining a high-performance environment. For the coaching staff, that means constant testing and development. For the players, that means pushing the bleeding edge of their craft while not burning out.”
G2 was initially founded as Gamers2, a Spanish organization, in February 2014, qualifying for the EU LCS in October 2015 and rebranding to G2 Esports. The team has only performed in two EU LCS splits but has won both of them (regular season and playoffs). The team has suffered from poor international play, however, finishing fifth at the Mid-Season Invitational with a disastrous 2-8 record and leaving Worlds in the group stage with a 1-5 mark.