Burnet Esports team at the Texas Esports League Finals

 

Sunday morning began with John Elias, Ray Reid, Murray Urofsky, and Haley Dal Porto competing in an open, double-elimination tournament in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. While most of them saw early stiff competition that saw them get knocked out of the tournament, John had an early win in the upper bracket before having a loss in the second match. With that loss, he dropped to the lower bracket where he went on to win another two matches before facing some really stiff competition and losing a second match, which ended his progress through the bracket.

 

Throughout the day, these seniors had an opportunity to watch some game play from college players that had come from across the country to compete in the Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup and to speak with coaches and representatives from different schools that offer scholarships and opportunities to compete in esports at the college level.

 

In the afternoon, 5th ranked Xzavier faced the 13th ranked Bel Air High School team from El Paso, Cyber Reds Smash 1 in the best-of-5 quarterfinals match. This was the only quarterfinals match in the Super Smash Bros Ultimate Solos competition where one of the teams was competing virtually, so while Xzavier was playing in front of an audience (including his mother, grandmother, and younger sister) at the Arlington Esports Arena, the team in El Paso was playing virtually. After some technical difficulties that saw the quarterfinals match restarted, Xzavier fought hard during the first round getting a sense of the players tricks and skills, before losing the first round. He was able to come back from that early loss having learned how the opponent played and was able to beat his opponent in the next two rounds to take the lead 2-1. At this point, the other team left the game arena not realizing that the quarterfinals were best-of-5 and not best-of-3 (as it had been the entire season up until this point). In a great show of sportsmanship, Xavier mentioned this fact to the league official that he felt the other player didn’t realize it was best-of-5. After communication between the league official and the coach of the Cyber Reds Smash 1 team, the team rejoined the game arena and the fourth round started. Xzavier continued to play the character he was most experienced with; however, the opposing team picked a different character to use for the rest of the round. This character change would prove to be insurmountable as the El Paso team went on to win rounds 4 and 5, thus clinching the quarterfinals win 3-2.

 

It was a heartbreaking moment to watch as Xzavier went from in the lead 2-1 to then lose after a show of good sportsmanship. We are all proud of the hard work and dedication that Xzavier has shown consistently showing up for matches all season ready to play even if his opponent ultimately was a no-show. While the quarterfinals loss is hard, Xzavier showed phenomenal skill, played an outstanding 5-game match, and left all of his effort, talent, and skills shine through in the game. He showed the heart of a bulldog and competed with Spirit, Pride, and Honor, and while this wasn’t the ending I had hoped to see for Xzavier, I am proud of him for making it this far and for playing with integrity.

 

If you see Xzavier this week, say a kind word to him along with your congratulations. This has been a tough loss for him, but I know he will grow from this experience.

 

Coach Gonzales and I want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement this year as we started this new team here at BHS. We also wish to thank the administration for their unwavering support helping two new coaches get a new team off the ground with the resources and support we needed for the team to be a success.

Finally, we are proud of all ten players that competed this season. Their hard work, dedication, and commitment are to be commended. Go Bulldogs!