As the first semester of the school year kicks off, Paideia’s Esports team is preparing for their new season, which began in September. The team’s pre-season started the week of Aug. 31, when recruitment and preparation started.
During the season, games are typically once a week on Fridays, while practice happens on Mondays. Esports co-coach Lou Casillas shared with The Forum that practices vary depending on the game being played throughout the season, as some games require more research or more players. When playing multiplayer games with up to five athletes per team, practices include “going online and playing practice games against people and a lot of research.” According to Casillas, players will research “best build for characters and strategies” to help prepare for these big games.
In independent games like Smash Bros, practices include “a lot of live competition; we often do a lot of online scrimmages with teams from across the country,” says Casillas. Mario Kart requires a very committed team, and to prepare, athletes “watch a lot of videos, make sure they know the best strategies, and they run a lot of reps.”
Alex Mansion ’27 has been on the team since freshman year but has been involved with Esports since middle school. Alex shares that he wants to help the underclassmen athletes practice for this year’s competitions, “so we can be more productive and go farther this season.” Right now, athletes are preparing in their pre-season for what’s to come this year.
