PC silicon vendor VIA Technologies is offering quite a prize: a weekend stay at its world-class gaming facility in Sweden. The catch: No boys allowed. Via's "Get the Girls into the Game" contest aims to encourage girls to hone their gaming skills. Another catch: Any gamer 18 or over can nominate another gamer, female only and also over 18, explaining why she should have the experience of living the pro-gamer lifestyle, at least for that weekend. 

The lucky winner will be flown to Sweden with a (female) friend and stay at VIA's Home of Chrome, in Stockholm. She'll receive high-powered training from VIA's professional female PC game team, the girlz 0f destruction (a few of whom are pictured at right). Made up of members from around the world, this team is considered one of the best at playing QUAKE 4. The girlz train about 5 hours a day, and have played roughly 10,000 matches. Last year, they collected over $30,000 in winnings. As an added bonus, the winner also gets $250 to spend on souvenirs during her stay in Sweden.
 

The contest runs until September 10th. You can nominate a deserving female gamer at VIA's Web site.

Thanks to our intern Errol Pierre-Louis for this post!