Hands and controllers filled with sweat, eyes glued onto the screen and faces tense, the West High esports team’s final match of the season was against Gilbert Varsity MK. On May 20, the team went to the “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” state finals in Marshalltown, Iowa. The team played four matches and ranked third in the state finals. They lost their first match, but won their other three matches.
Coach Jeff Connor was thrilled with what the team had accomplished within the tournament and mentioned how the tournament day was one of the best days of his life as a teacher.
Before the tournament, the esports team had already had a successful season. The team did not lose to any schools before finals. This allowed them to skip the playoffs and automatically enter into the tournament. Connor was pleased with what the team accomplished during the season.
“I’m very proud of the fact that this team went about as far as we’ve ever gone,” Connor said.
When the coach asked about what he had done differently this season, he mentioned how he put in effort to make the whole team feel more included.
“We also tried to start off practice using sort of a huddle and a team cheer, which was sort of funny,” Conner said.
On a more serious note, he implemented a technique called “focus points.” Focus points allow students to hone in on one particular skill that they are trying to improve. This helped the team to thrive throughout this season.
Compared to the prior “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” season, Conner put the top players in for most of the competition matches. He mentions how some players like to play for fun within the club rather than competitively.
“I hadn’t put in my lower-skill players in that game, but because my record was weaker from the previous weeks, um, it meant that we didn’t make it. So that’s why this year I actually tend to only put my top players in competitively, which is more like a traditional sport anyway,” Conner said.
The following season will come later this year in the fall with the “Super Smash Bros Ultimate” season. Conner is optimistic and excited about expanding the number of people who can compete competitively.
