Socastee battled against other high schools at the recent Tech Fair in the games of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Rocket League, and Mario Kart, and ended up sweeping the competition.
Esports (Electronic Sports) involves multiplayer video games played competitively like any other sport. Socastee High has a few Esports teams, each specializing in a different kind of video game genre. Students practice the game against robot players or scrimmage against other schools online on the east coast to practice during Gaming Guild meetings.
The Tech Fair, where they competed March 27, brings together students from all over Horry County to show off their science and technology projects. Many groups also attend to get kids interested in STEM programs.
“It was definitely a bit intimidating to see just how many players from the other schools there were,” commented Gaming Guild Sergeant in Arms and Mario Kart Team Captain Emma Elliot. “But I think that made our teams better.”
The Mario Kart Team won the official first match against Carolina Forest, Socastee’s biggest rival.
“The match was difficult,” Team Captain Draven Rains said.” “Carolina Forest put up a good fight but we came through because of our team structure.”
The Smash Team squeezed out a victory with a final record of 3-2. Player Logan Walters saved the team and brought them to victory.
“They were really relaxed throughout the whole match and that’s what helped lead them to victory,” Team Proctor Senior Christian Spencer said.
The Rocket League team, the Blazing Braves, were at first even with Carolina Forest before they ended the best-of-seven match 4-2.
“They always struggled with communication a lot,” Christian said. “but I feel like the crowd helped push them to communicate better.”
There were roughly 1,500 students, not including public spectators, at the event. The Esports stage was visited by almost everyone at the event.
“We all had fun,” Draven said. “In the end we all grew closer as a team.”
In addition to competing themselves, the Gaming Guild helped run a Mario Kart and a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament for the elementary students attending the fair. All the high school students helped out by monitoring matches and guiding kids through demos.
“We were so worried about the kids tournament that we weren’t worried about our own match,” Emma said.
