By: CAMERON ASHFORD
Staff Writer
Esports competitions have been around for the last two decades. Although they have been around for a while, Central Valley high schools have finally allowed there to be competitive high school teams. VUSD has had Esports available on the high school level for the last few years, but El Diamante has only been involved for two years. With the introduction to the Esports program, EDHS has already gained large amounts of recognition for their competitive Smash Bros team. EDHS English teacher, Juan Marquez took the Esports program under his wing and has built a team of State Champions for Super Smash Bros. After his team received CIF State honors in the Play VS Tournament, his team has moved on to the National Smash Bros Playoff Bracket. Last week, EDHS Esports beat a team in Texas, and on Wednesday, a team in Alaska. Today the Esports team moves to quarter finals and will play Crespi Carmelite High for a chance at a Semifinals spot. When asked about how confident Marquez was in his team winning today’s match he stated, “As long as we do what we’ve been doing for months, we should come out today with a win”. The team has performed excellently this season and has really shined the light, not just on El Diamante, but the Central Valley as a whole. When asked about how winning nationals could affect our school and community Marquez stated that “A win for El Diamante is a win for the entire Central Valley in terms of esports. Although we are all competitive with each other, we all want to support each other to make sure this scene grows to the levels we know it can reach”. If you have the chance, please tune in to the Play VS Smash Bros quarterfinals match today at 3:00pm PST to see who will come on top.