GamerLegion coach Ash has confirmed his resignation due to personal psychological issues.

European CS2 professional team GamerLegion announced on Wednesday that Ashley Batty (ID: ash) has officially stepped down as coach. Due to personal mental health issues, he will be taking a break from competitive play for some time after leaving his position.

“I need to rest, clear my head, and get back into shape, then I’ll be back. Hopefully not too long,” ash told HLTV. His last tournament with GamerLegion was the 2025 StarLadder Budapest Major. The team suffered consecutive losses to Fluxo, RED Canids, and PARIVISION in the first stage of the Major, ultimately finishing with a 1-3 record and being eliminated.

The 35-year-old ash has coached CS teams such as dizLown, London, Vexed, Organs5, and Divine Vendetta before officially taking over GamerLegion in August 2020. His best achievement during his tenure was leading the team to the finals of the 2023 BLAST Paris Major, where they ultimately lost to Vitality and finished as runners-up.

In a video, Ash explained his reasons for leaving the team. He stated, "The past five years have been an extremely long and relentless journey, during which we played thousands of maps. I hope my experience can provide a learning opportunity for other professional players, so I decided to share it to help others avoid making the same mistakes. The reason for this is that I was physically and mentally exhausted."

"I've been mentally tormented for the second half of this year. The packed schedule has left me exhausted and with very little rest. I first felt out of sorts at IEM Dallas when acoR was still our substitute player. But during the playoffs against Falcons, my body language completely went out of control."

“I gradually became aware of various symptoms of burnout, and they became more and more obvious. The team’s mistakes made me feel increasingly frustrated. My sleep quality continued to deteriorate, and I became irritable and easily angered off the field. My body language was getting worse, and almost every day I could clearly feel the pressure and tension accumulating in my body. That feeling was both strange and terrifying. I felt like I was in a phase of grief, and I could break down and cry at any moment.”

“The worst part for me was that, because of my role in the team, I felt I couldn’t express or talk about it. As a head coach, you have to always project strength and confidence. As the season went on, this ‘all is well’ mask drained my energy day after day.”

Ash concluded, "It's a great honor for me to work in a CS-related field. I have indeed been living in my dream. However, I have been pushing myself too hard for a long time, constantly striving while pretending that everything is fine, which has ultimately drained me."

"Working six or seven days a week, ten hours a day, plus scouting players and rebuilding the roster during the off-season, the long-term, relentless work finally took its toll on me. I even tried to convince myself many times that my mood swings were just due to lack of sleep or other trivial matters. I became too dependent on results, and the decline in my energy made everything worse."

"That's why I had to take a break to fully recover and avoid repeating the same mistake. I was fortunate to work with excellent sports psychologists at Game Legion and have booked a private counseling session to help me recover from CS. I highly recommend that anyone in a similar situation seek professional help."