With the UKIE panel announcement, I thought it would be worth giving some background for those who don't know me.
I fell in love with gaming young — back in the Sega Mega Drive days. When I was off sick, my dad (a secondary school teacher) would take me into school with him… and I’d end up playing Doom in the computer labs. That’s probably where the spark really started. When I moved into secondary school, I’d stay behind for Computer Club — Delta Force, CS 1.6, and whatever else we could get installed. That after-school energy, playing together, learning together, competing together… that’s where my passion for esports was born. Around 2000, I built my first PC and started taking CS 1.6 more seriously — playing in clans, running my own, and competing wherever we could: A Knuckle Sandwich, Best Served Chilled, and The Valley Kings -=TvK=-.
I never “broke mainstream”, but I competed on EnemyDown, played a few online tournaments, hit LANs like Big Clan down in Southampton, and even ran a few small LANs myself.
When CS: Source dropped and the scene shifted, a lot of the community drifted — and so did I — gaming became more casual for a while. But gaming had already done its job: it led me into my other passion — IT / tech — which I went on to study at degree level. During uni I sank countless hours into StarCraft II — always a proud Zerg main ❤️ — and spent far too much time learning new strats on Day9.
After uni, my first job in IT put me in a team with BillyB0b — the guy behind the biggest LAN in Wales(eFragz). Over the next four years I attended more LANs than I can count, sleeping on random school gym floors across Wales, and living for Friday-night Battlefield sessions with the eFragz crew. Those conversations with BillyB0b — about community, infrastructure, and “how we grow this properly” — shaped how I think about esports to this day.
That era also gave me my love/hate relationship with League of Legends — I loved how transferable the strategy and teamplay felt — and I enjoyed competing in small grassroots tournaments with a proper team again.
As life moved on, eFragz ended, and parts of the scene shifted, I kept showing up — including to Skynet Wales LAN in Brecon, which I still attend. But I also saw how big the online community opportunity was… and that’s where I founded the Welsh Gaming Network, which became one of the largest gaming communities in Wales. It introduced me to so many brilliant people from all walks of life — including people I still work with today — and took me to events like EpicLAN and Insomnia.
After some disagreements at WGN, I decided to focus on the professional side — and in early 2018, I created Esports Wales. From community nights (Overwatch with people like Ked and Waffles) to a bigger mission: I’ve always loved watching Wales compete — and I never understood why we weren’t doing more of it. So after speaking with James Hood at Esports Scotland, we helped set up the first-ever Esports Cup of Nations. Wales lost, but it was our first international — and it proved what was possible.
We modelled early grassroots club development on Welsh rugby structures — running elemental “dragon” clubs (iâ/tân/dwr/aer) through to 2022. Coming out of COVID, esports had exploded, and Wales was now travelling — competing at events like the Commonwealth Esports Championships, the IESF World Championships in Bali, and the European Championships in Baku — and, importantly, learning from federations and the esports family around the world about how they build sustainable ecosystems.
In 2023, we made a big shift. I wanted Esports Wales to be structured properly — something that can continue long after I’m gone. Working with the board and learning from sport structures in Wales and fellow federations, we created the Welsh Esports League and a club model that supports annual AGMs and clear governance. In the same period, I also took the leap and left my day job to become CEO of Esports Wales full-time.
Over the past three years we’ve improved that model year on year — supporting the development of grassroots clubs, players, coaches, casters, and pathways — not just to compete, but to do esports fairly, safely, and sustainably.
And honestly? Any of my teammates will tell you: I’m not the best player in the room. But I will put the work in to help build a strong ecosystem — one that people can trust.