Women's-only tournaments are important and necessary to the integrity of SSB as an esport. Here's why.

Simply put, SSB and other gaming scenes are not the friendliest places for women. The fact is that just about every woman in the scene has had an uncomfortable interaction based on their gender. That is not right. The same cannot be said for a fair chunk of the men in the scene.

Women have been:
- harassed (to extents of outright abuse)
- objectified, seen as trophies to be attained
- held to different standards than men in relation to their performance and competence within the game itself

This goes for the online sphere as well, where this all is even more abundant thanks to just how easy it is to express one's opinion here. Tweets about how women in SSB are all bad at the game or are there for the attention are far too common. Just about one circulates per week.

These tournaments that are meant to cater towards women aren't meant to be coddling or to serve as a rival league. They are meant to highlight competitors who happen to be women and give those that are reluctant to enter other tournaments a safer and more accessible...

means of doing so.

It's also really validating for trans women, like myself. It's nice to feel like a woman and be surrounded by other women sometimes.

It's a bit of camaraderie as well. It helps some women network and get to know each other better as well.

TL;DR:
Women-oriented SSB events are important because they create a more accessible and safe environment in order to highlight overlooked women in the community.