NAVI Reportedly Preparing a Valorant Academy Roster for 2026

Natus Vincere is reportedly preparing a Valorant academy roster for the 2026 season, according to sources cited by Sheep Esports, with Ivan "Johnta" Shevtsov set to support and coach the project as it targets players between the ages of 16 and 19. No slot in a specific competition has been secured yet, but NAVI is said to be aiming to guide the new team toward VCL: NORTH//EAST once recruitment, which the report describes as open to all interested players, settles on a final lineup.

The move would mark a formal extension of NAVI's existing youth development efforts beyond its NAVI Visa Academy platform at academy.navi.gg, adding a competitive academy roster specifically for Valorant following a 2026 VCT season in which the organization's main roster finished seventh at the Kickoff after a notable offseason coaching change.

Results reported by Sheep Esports, March 9, 2026.

A project still built on sources, not an official announcement

The entire academy project rests on reporting attributed to sources close to the situation rather than an official NAVI confirmation, meaning the plan's final shape, including whether VCL: NORTH//EAST ultimately becomes the team's home competition, remained unconfirmed by the organization itself at the time the report was first published. That gap between sourced reporting and official confirmation is common in esports coverage of roster and organizational moves still being finalized, where outlets with strong industry sourcing often report developments before the organization itself is ready to make a formal statement.

A coach stepping into a development-focused role

Ivan "Johnta" Shevtsov's reported role supporting and coaching the academy project gives the venture a named figure responsible for developing the younger talent pool before any players are even confirmed for the roster, a sequencing that put coaching leadership in place ahead of settling on the actual competitive lineup. That order, naming who will guide the project before finalizing who will play on it, reflects how academy-level team building can prioritize establishing a development framework and mentorship structure first, with the specific roster filled in once recruitment concludes.

An open recruitment process rather than a pre-selected roster

The reported plan to open recruitment to all interested players before settling the lineup, rather than pre-selecting a roster and announcing it as a finished product, gives the project a more accessible entry point than a closed academy built entirely from players NAVI had already scouted and approached privately. That approach, an open call rather than a closed selection, echoes NAVI's own history running the NAVI VALORANT Ukrainian Saga tournaments through open qualifiers, suggesting the organization is applying a similar inclusive format to its academy-building process as it previously used for its tournament programming.

A main roster still searching for consistency

NAVI's main Valorant roster's 2025 season, missing Masters Bangkok after early EMEA Kickoff losses to Karmine Corp and Fnatic before improving to a top-four Stage 2 finish without ultimately qualifying for Champions 2025, gave the organization a season of mixed results that carried into 2026 with a coaching change moving Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov from player to coach alongside new signings Volkan "sociablEE" Yonal and Dawid "Filu" Czarnecki. That inconsistent recent history on the main roster provides useful context for why NAVI might see additional value in building a dedicated pipeline of younger talent through a formal academy structure now, rather than relying solely on its existing Visa Academy platform.

A named platform already doing similar work

NAVI Visa Academy, hosted at academy.navi.gg, already exists as a platform meant to help the next generation of Valorant players emerge, meaning a formal academy competitive roster would sit alongside, rather than replace, an existing development initiative the organization had already built. That layering, a new competitive roster added on top of an existing development platform rather than created from scratch as the organization's first youth initiative, suggests NAVI's reported academy plans represent an escalation of existing efforts rather than an entirely new direction for how the organization approaches player development.

Why VCL: NORTH//EAST specifically

Targeting VCL: NORTH//EAST as the competition the academy team would aim to join reflects a specific regional positioning choice, placing the roster within a defined geographic competitive structure rather than leaving its eventual competitive home open-ended. That specificity, naming a target competition even while the roster itself remains unfilled and no slot has been secured, gives outside observers a concrete benchmark against which to judge whether the reported plans ultimately come to fruition as described.

A target age range that signals genuine development intent

Focusing recruitment specifically on players aged 16 to 19 rather than opening the roster to any age group willing to compete positions the project squarely as a genuine development pipeline rather than a loosely organized secondary team built around whichever players happen to be available at a given moment. That age-specific framing, targeting a window typically associated with players still building toward their first main-roster opportunities rather than established competitors between contracts, reinforces the idea that NAVI's reported plan is meant to function as an actual talent incubator rather than a depth roster for veteran players.

A pattern repeating across Valorant's biggest organizations

NAVI's reported move follows a broader pattern among established Valorant organizations of building out formal academy structures underneath their main VCT rosters, a trend that has accelerated as the competitive scene has matured and organizations have sought more reliable pipelines into their top-tier teams than relying purely on the open transfer market. That context, NAVI's reported plans fitting a wider industry pattern rather than representing an unusual or isolated move, suggests the organization is responding to competitive pressure to match what rival teams have already built rather than pioneering an entirely new approach to player development within Valorant specifically.

Why VCL matters as a stepping stone

VCL, the Valorant Challengers League structure that includes VCL: NORTH//EAST as one of its regional divisions, functions as the primary competitive tier directly beneath VCT's franchised leagues, making it the natural target for an academy roster designed to prepare players for an eventual jump to top-tier competition. That positioning, VCL sitting as the direct feeder tier beneath the VCT structure NAVI's main roster competes in, is what makes targeting VCL: NORTH//EAST specifically a meaningful signal about the academy's intended purpose rather than an arbitrary choice of competition among the many other regional divisions the organization could in principle have pursued instead.

A Ukrainian organization's development mission beyond one title

NAVI's broader identity as a Ukrainian organization competing across multiple titles gives its reported Valorant academy plans a context beyond Valorant alone, since the organization has consistently framed youth development as part of its wider mission rather than confining that focus to any single game. That cross-title development posture, visible already in how NAVI structured its Visa Academy platform generally rather than around one specific game, makes a dedicated Valorant academy roster a logical extension of an approach the organization has already applied more broadly across its competitive portfolio.

What comes next

With no competition slot yet secured and the project still resting on sourced reporting rather than an official NAVI statement, the next real test of these plans will be whether the organization formally confirms the academy roster, names its first recruited players, and whether it actually secures entry into VCL: NORTH//EAST as currently targeted. Johnta's coaching role and the open recruitment process both suggest the groundwork is already underway, even without a finished lineup yet in place, and NAVI's eventual public confirmation, or continued silence on the matter, is likely to settle whether this reported initiative becomes a genuine, lasting addition to the organization's broader Valorant structure or simply fades from view without ever being formally acknowledged.

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