The Esports team had an excellent season being only active for its second year here at Riordan.
What started as a small program with around 10 to 15 players has now nearly doubled with new games such as Overwatch, Valorant, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
Santiago Maldonado ’24, one of the founding members of the program, stated, “Not only has this changed, but playing has become more of a team feeling, having a room dedicated to us after school, with an area for the switch games and tables setup for the pc players have been great additions to the program.”
Even current teams have also improved since last season such as Mario Kart making the playoffs for the second time in a row.
Julien Untalan ’24, one of the top Mario Kart players on the team, stated, “We’re in the big leagues now. The Mario Kart team was undefeated for the first half making a 3-3 record and we also changed from regional to national league.”
Other teams such as Overwatch and Super Smash Bros have also made it to playoffs as well as teams like Counter Strike making it to the national league.
Cory Nelson, the esports coach and moderator, also stated how much the team has improved since last year.
“We have gotten a lot of support from teachers and the administration, like Brian Kelly, that have allowed us to buy equipment. With the players that we have and the ever expanding gaming community world wide this team can be huge.”
The growth and improvement seen over the past season also escalates the hope for the future, as Nelson continues to explain what he would like to see next year.
“We hope every team makes the playoffs, to grow the program at least ten more players who consistently come to practice, and break stigmas about video games since they are fun and cool to play.”
