The Los Angeles Valiant have released their entire roster and coaching staff in preparation for their move to China this year. Despite signing new players and coaches earlier on in the off-season, they seem to be building a new team from scratch. After the controversy on Twitter about the accuracy of the rumors, the entire roster and staff were released. Fans of the Valiant are expecting an Asian roster for next year, with brand new players and coaches at the helm. But, people can’t help but think that this entire transition couldn’t have been done better.
2021 Roster Update: pic.twitter.com/wLegf51MAI
— Los Angeles Valiant (@LAValiant) January 29, 2021
The release and how it happened
To start, this off-season looked bright for the Valiant. They didn’t make any major moves, but some small good upgrades. One of those was re-signing fan favorite and past player Brady “Agilities” Girardi. Along with signing Australian off-tank Adam “Adam” Soong, the off-season looked to be slow but successful. This also included coaches like Sung-woo “Sungwoo” Hong, who seemed to be adding more to the coaching staff for 2021.
But, the quiet off-season suddenly became loud. Rumors came out on Twitter about a Chinese organization buying the Valiant. It made sense, mainly due to the team suddenly relocating to the East division despite not having an Asian core. But, then the Valiant’s entire roster and coaching staff was also released.
This was the biggest shock. How can you release an entire roster and coaching staff, especially when they played as well as the Valiant did last season? They weren’t the best in the league, but they were a consistent dark horse and surprised many with their performances. Plus, what would happen to their most recent signings of Agilities and Adam? Would they stay due to their contract signings?
Many fans thought that there was no way this rumor was real. That was, until players and coaches from the Valiant started tweeting hints that the rumors were true. Due to their position, they couldn’t just confirm their sudden releases online, but the hints were obvious. The Valiant team of 2020 was over. It was just a matter of time until this release happened.
Now what for the Los Angeles Valiant roster?
Well, this must be a hard pill to swallow for Valiant fans. The team says in their release tweet that the team wasn’t able to come to China due to “COVID-related visa issues.” While skeptical, the result of this is the same. The team must rebuild again, but this time with no coach or previous staff. However, as a fan of contenders, it will be interesting to see which players from the Chinese or Korean scene join the Valiant in their new 2021 roster. Either way, there will be a completely new Los Angeles Valiant roster for 2020.
Published: Jan 30, 2021 10:32 am