One year with NAVI Junior
One year has passed!
It has been a year since 
NAVI Junior was born. We have come a long way: from the NAVI Esports Camp project to the NAVI Youth foundation. And there are many new discoveries, achievements, and new heights ahead of us!
Let's recall how we came to the idea of creating an academy, who formed the team, and what are the results after 12 months of fruitful work.
The launch of NAVI Esports Camp
In spring 2019, Natus Vincere esports club set out to create a CS:GO junior team. The organization was looking for young talents, the best of the best, who would later be able to defend the colors of NAVI with honor. This is where the idea of the academy was born.
The club began to on May 6th, and the tough job of scouting of applicants were directed by Andrii "B1ad3" Gorodenskyi, who held the post of esports director at that time, and Amiran "ami" Rekhviashvili — future coach of the team.
Also, Yana «BlackBunny» Dychenko was invited to the Born to Win camp, and to this day she covers the activities of the youth squads!
On June 14th the names of 10 NAVI Esports Camp were .
Aleksey «Topa» Topchienko Rodion «fear» Smyk Andrey «Whitesmith» Saribekyan Ivan «kapacho» Koplenko Valeriy «B1t» Vakhovskiy
Kirill «Gospadarov» Gospadarov Kirill «poka» Starovoytov Vyacheslav «Art1st» Lyadnov Daniil «Porya» Poryadin Eugene «Aunkere» Karyat
The young players awaited a flight to Kyiv and intensive work on themselves. In an instant, the guys were under the scrutiny of several thousand fans, who were very interested in how the events would unfold. After all, the training sessions were going to be lengthy — two and a half months.
Summer camp: what was it like
The work began immediately upon the arrival of the players to the training camp. From the very first day, the exercises with a psychologist, sports coach, physical training coach, and a nutritionist have started. Our media team with the help of vlogs introduced fans to the participants of the academy.
After a while, you could already make the first conclusions about the game and communication skills of the participants. B1ad3 and ami identified the weaknesses of players and started to work on them, while also passing on valuable knowledge. The guys were discovering themselves from different angles. In their free time from practices, some of them cooked in the kitchen, some of them were doing personal vlogs, and others went to LAN tournaments with teammates.
At this rate, the summer flew by. NAVI made every effort to pass on the professional experience to future represents of esports and to unlock their potential. The time has come to sum things up, to pack up their suitcases and, of course, to make a difficult choice: whom to keep and to whom to say goodbye. The choice was really difficult: in the camp, all guys, without exception, have grown individually and become a better understanding of teammates.
Ten days of tedious reflections and the results were finally . Three participants of the NAVI Esports Camp received an invitation to the NAVI Junior, and another four were given a trial period until the end of the year.
Invited to NAVI Junior
Kirill «Gospadarov» Gospadarov Valeriy «B1t» Vakhovskiy Ivan «kapacho» Koplenko
On trial
Evgeniy «Aunkere» Karyat Andrew «Whitesmith» Saribekyan Rodion «fear» Smyk Alexey «Topa» Topchienko
The reasons behind these decisions were explained on our YouTube channel.
Setting stones of the junior team their first results
The start was difficult. Due to the fact that some players were on trial, the lineup changed from tournament to tournament. The first official matches were hard, but NAVI Junior did not give up. Numerous boot camps, the continuous work on themselves, and the desire to win, slowly pushed them forward.
In November, the Junior team was able to pass the open qualifiers, and in January 2020, the Natus Vincere esports club had a new addition. The organization 14-year-old Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov, who at that time had an excellent performance. Together with the newcomer, the junior team performed well at the and took the third place. After the tournament, the NAVI Junior was by Topa.
The development of the team was rapid. In March, the trial period ended for Aunkere and he joined the Junior squad, and in April Daniil "headtr1ck" Valitov the team. Due to his age, just like m0NESY, he moved to the reserve and began to practice hard.
Another big milestone happened in spring: m0NESY got a place in FPL. It should be noted that Ilya became one of the youngest players of the FACEIT Pro League.
Around the same time, the NAVI Youth was formed. It included m0NESY and headtr1ck, as well as fear, synyX and ketsuo. The last two players were on trial. The team took part in CS:GO Fight Night and #HomeSweetHome: Week 4.
Already in May, NAVI Junior fought on equal terms with such teams as 
Winstrike, Hard Legion and ESPADA. Heavy training continued online because of COVID-19, but this did not prevent the guys to show good results.
Kirill «Gospadarov» GospadarovOur coach Amiran wrote to me and offered to take a test. I agreed. Two days later he told me that I got invited to the top ten.
About the acquaintance: I already knew some players and met with some guys and coaches at the camp.
Kirill «Gospadarov» GospadarovThe main problem before the camp was an unstable performance. Unfortunately, after the camp, it still remains. However, I found the problem, the results have recently become much better. Soon you will see it for yourself!
Kirill «Gospadarov» GospadarovOf course, I feel that the skill has gone up, but in some respects, I've gotten worse than I was before the camp. A year ago I became a captain, it was a novelty for me. It is the most difficult role in the game that I continue to study. It is important to be able to find an approach to each player, to know the meta better than the others, to be able to picture the opponents' and teammates' positions, and to make quick decisions. At the same time, you have to control your own game, think over your AWP waypoints, the decisions that you are going to make in the future with your rifle. Sniper and captain can be key elements in this game, and when it is given to one person, it is not quite easy. It is almost impossible.
How are things now
In August, fear got into FPL. In an with Alexey Kostyliev, he said that he not only continues to train hard but also helps ami with the recruitment of players.
Amiran himself shared his memories of NAVI Esports Camp and told about the plans of juniors.
NAVI Junior coach. How was it? How do you evaluate the progress of the academy in a year?
Amiran «ami» RekhviashviliI was invited by Andrii B1ad3, back then he was still an esports director. NAVI offered me an interesting project on youth development. It made me interested. I wanted to pass on the experience to the guys, to teach them how to look at the game and life, and of course, to open the path to the professional esports scene.
I think that everything turned out to be great and the project proved to be 100% successful. We have created a strong junior team, which will serve as a reserve for the main team, and we won't have to enter the market to find players. We are also looking for youth and have already assembled a third squad with younger guys playing in it. They will serve as a reinforcement of the Junior team in the future
Amiran «ami» RekhviashviliThe main problem is the lack of knowledge and experience. The task is just to educate players who will be prepared for everything: both in the game and in life. I don't think our problems are different from the problems of other teams. We play a lot and devote a lot of time to the analysis of mistakes, we focus on different aspects of the game to make the players universal. The guys are doing a good job, this year they have grown very strong both in-game and as an individual.
Amiran «ami» RekhviashviliThe Junior team will continue to grow and will play in all tournaments. Right now I must assemble the youth team so that the guys can also take part in the championships. We have very talented young people, we must give them a chance.
We are also keeping an eye on young guys in the CIS, looking for new talents that can strengthen NAVI in the future. Everyone has a chance, the most important thing is to work hard.
NAVI isn't just going to stop here: after the borders have been opened, the players of our squad are starting to gather for boot camps again, to take apart mistakes and learn new things. The search for talents is going well: in September, a 16-year-old Daniil "SynyX" Mazur has his trial period and joined the NAVI Youth team.
Yevhen ZolotarovI am personally proud of this project. It turned out to be successful both in terms of media and in terms of creating a cadre of players for the main team. Our long-term goal is to introduce full rotation and competition in the NAVI main roster, and this rapid personal and professional growth of juniors brings us closer to this goal. I would like to say a huge thank you to all NAVI staff and players involved in the academy who makes us proud. Special thanks to B1ad3, who helped us a lot with the project, and of course to ami, who carries it all on his own shoulders. Happy anniversary, younglings!
Looking back, we realize that everything was not for nothing. The idea of the academy, the forming of the teams, and the long work - all this gave us invaluable experience and gave impetus to the development of teams and players who want to get into the professional CS:GO scene.
Stay tuned and cheer for Natus Vincere! #navination
