BIG official: Rebuilding the youth training team and introducing two foreign rookies

The German CS2 team BIG announced on Wednesday that it would reorganize the youth training team BIG Academy, which was disbanded in early 2024.

"We are rebuilding the BIG Academy," said Roman Reinhart, BIG's COO. "This project has a long history and has made an important contribution to our success in the past. The Academy has always been a cornerstone of our CS2 philosophy and will play an even more central role in our strategic layout in the future. Our goal is not only to discover talents, but more importantly to cultivate and shape them in an autonomous and sustainable way."

He added: “The new Academy is more than just a side project. It’s a core part of our strategy going forward. We are investing in a system that can both develop talent and take them to the world stage. This is the BIG spirit at its best – and it all starts here.”

According to BIG's arrangement, Sebastian Hoch (ID: xenn) will be transferred from the interim head coach of the first team to the youth training coach, and will continue to be responsible for the assistant work of the first team. The team also introduced two foreign rookies to form a new youth training lineup together with the German players. The specific list is as follows:

Lucas Hegmann (ID: FreeZe)

David Hersey (ID: prosus)

Philipp Henke (ID: w1dow)

Egzon Belulli (ID: xonn1k)

Dmytro Shirchuk (ID: NaYz)