Grace Wang
STAFF WRITER

Andover High School’s (AHS) Super Smash Bros team, part of the AHS esports team, is currently ranked in Massachusetts’ top ten, and they are climbing their way up the Middlesex County Championships. While they continue to compete against other teams in the playoffs, being the strongest isn’t their only goal. 

Although proud of his players’ successes, AHS esports coach Eliud Felix isn’t only focused on winning. He hopes to promote a competitive environment for kids to have fun, meet friends, and do what they love. He emphasized the positive effects and opportunities esports provide for players everywhere and addressed the negative impact of stigma around esports.

“It’s another way to encourage teamwork by using games, and it’s the same philosophy using strategy and using life lessons, winning and losing,” Felix stated, highlighting that Esports is just like any other sport.”

“Instead of being in their houses by themselves, they come here and interact with other players with the same interest and build relationships,” explained Felix. Driven by this belief, he hopes to recruit more players and gain exposure for the team. In the future, the teams look forward to establishing a Twitch account, a video live streaming service that focuses on game live streaming which offers competition broadcasts, creative content, and real-life streams. They hope to get more games available as well as appeal to a wider variety of people. They’ve already made many announcements on the school’s loudspeaker to let people know that they are open to all and would be happy to accept any new players. 

However, they also aren’t lacking players. In total, the teams boast 25 competitors for Super Smash Bros, League of Legends, NBA 2K23, and Rocket League. Esports itself is a no-cut fall sport, and they compete every week in the library. 

 Besides simply being a place to game, the sport provides an atmosphere to grow and learn for everyone. “Some of the kids I’ve had over the years were not very sociable [at first], and now they’re very talkative,” shared Felix. 

Sharing Felix’s sentiment, freshman Shihwa Lee said “esports is great, like it’s a fun environment. There’s plenty of people playing all the time so you can really just come over a common subject.” 

“What I do applaud this group [for] is that they are very accepting of everyone and that’s pretty cool,“ complimented Felix. On a similar note, he explained that his job is to help the players “talk with their peers and… get their point of views across.” Although some are a bit quiet, he said that “they’re not different from everyone else.” They all hold the hunger and drive to win. On Discord, their coach shared his amazement at the strategies discussed and effort put into winning the game. Putting in hard work and time, the teams set out to win. 

“This school does a lot of good things and this is one of them,” said Felix. He expressed his gratitude for the opportunity that the school offers his players and the new location the sport has recently moved to. Moreover, he’s grateful for the high-tech machines and several TVs that the school provides. 

Overall, the nature of competition through esports teaches its players life lessons. Learning how to take defeat is a skill Felix wished to teach his players. “There are teams that beat the crap out of you but you just gotta learn how to take it,” concluded Felix. “Just get up when you fall down.”