Esports teams from West Hartford and throughout the area will participate in the second annual Kingswood Oxford Esports Tournament on Oct. 14.

KO Esports team members. Courtesy photo

Submitted by Jackie Pisani, Kingswood Oxford

Based on the success of last year’s Esports tournament, Kingswood Oxford will host its second annual Kingswood Oxford Esports Tournament (KET) on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, in the Hoffman Field House from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the awards ceremony.

Participating schools in addition to KO include Hall High School, Conard High School, Immaculate High School (Danbury), and Naugatuck High School. The gamers will be playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 3, with qualifiers/initial rounds in the morning and championships in the afternoon.

The KO Esports 16-member team began in 2020 by gaming aficionado (and Upper School French teacher) Coach Ryan Brodeur with the endorsement of Director of Athletics Josh Balabuch and Director of Technology Dan Bateson. Since the KO Esports team’s inception, Brodeur wanted to elevate its profile on campus as well as change the narrative regarding the sport.

“The more I learned about it, the more I thought, ‘This is awesome.’ I realized there was a way to organize gaming in such a way that it was truly team-oriented and that I could grow a program around it. I wanted to bring in some of the best gaming elements (team-based, communication, role, execution, self-awareness) and meld them with some of our school’s core values and align with our sports requirement of physical activity. As someone who went to KO, I know very keenly the value of being on a team. Even if you are not very good, you’re putting yourself out there.”

For Brodeur, Esports represents an opportunity for the school to be a more inclusive community. He explained that it’s difficult for a new player who has never dribbled a soccer ball to feel like they can contribute to a team. Now that many “thirds” teams no longer exist on campus, Esports offers an avenue for students to be part of something bigger.

“Esports allows that space to still exists,” Brodeur said. “A kid may not be able to make it onto a JV team, but they might have some awareness of gaming and be part of a team environment to contribute.”

Many colleges are signing kids to play Esports, and Esports programs are popping up in colleges across the country. Brodeur said he spoke with five Big East programs who plan on greenlighting scholarships for Eposrts in the next year or two. Already, The College of William and Mary has an Esports minor that ties in with their business degree.

For more information about the tournament click on this link.

KO Esports team members. Courtesy photo

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