Before students headed out on summer break, those who considered themselves gamers participated in a district eSports tournament hosted by the Socorro Independent School District Library Services Department.
The tournament allowed students interested in gaming to play head-to-head against students from other schools within the district for a day of friendly competition.
Michael McLaughlin, SATA coordinator and eSports coach at Eastlake High School, said it was great to have all the schools come together to participate and play together in person since they usually compete in an online setting.
“This is fantastic,” McLaughlin said. “At Eastlake, (eSports) is definitely starting to get some traction. So, it is nice to come to one of these (events) where these students are celebrated as they get to participate and have fun.”
Ultimately, two teams and three individual students took top honors in the gaming event.
For the “League of Legends” tournament, the Eastlake High School “Falcon Aces” placed first, and the Americas High School “Pathfinders” earned second place.
Meanwhile, three students were named first, second and third place winners for the “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” competition.
Traesen Shon, a freshman at Pebble Hills High School, was thrilled to participate in the event for the first time.
“This is really exciting,” Shon said. “I never thought this is something I could do. It is real nice to be here with other kids who have similar interests.”
Students can enroll in eSports to earn credit for their participation.
The program is currently active at Americas, Eastlake and Pebble Hills high schools.
2022-2023 eSports Winners
League of Legends Tournament
First place – Eastlake High School “Falcon Aces”
Korbin Crawford
Seojin Lee
Haziel Leon
Osmar Leon
Noel Melendez
Second place - Americas High School “Pathfinders”
Demian Palacios
Pedro Banuelos
Giovanni Chapa
Tadeo Mendoza
Joaquin Tellez
Diego Arriola
Ashton Aranda
Smash Bros. Ultimate Competition
First place - Phillip Gonzalez, Pebble Hills High School
Second place - Sebastian Garcia-Bracho, Americas High School
Third place - Angel Aguirre, Eastlake High School