Students put gaming (and dancing) skills to the test at esports tournament

As video game consoles were booting up, music from Just Dance 4 started blasting through the Student Commons on March 19.

Gaming stations filled the room from just past the main entrance of E-building all the way to Starbucks, set up for the patiently waiting students eager to test their skills against peers and strangers.

The We Got Game esports tournament had returned to Algonquin College.

“Many of the students are excited about this and have been messaging us for a while. We’re ready to go and ready to give it to them,” said Dave Miller, the owner of We Got Game.

Miller has had a long-standing relationship with Algonquin College going back 12-to-14 years from his estimates. He is also the father of Cianah Miller, an Algonquin College student and athlete on the women’s basketball team.

But the tournament isn’t exclusive to Algonquin. We Got Game travels to colleges and universities all across Ontario.

The tournament, which happens once per semester, is marketed to all students with an interest in video games.

“It’s both casual and competitive. We’ve combined the games of FC25 (a soccer game formerly known as FIFA) and Smash (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) to be competitive. But we usually have enough systems for many people to play freely on different games on the PlayStation 5s and the Nintendo Switch,” said Miller

“We have Just Dance 4 set up and we have a bowling competition where you can win Hockey Canada jerseys. So, there is a variety of things for people to play.”

Serin Sam Moncy, a student who signed up to play in the FC25 tournament, attested to how fun the event can be for casual players and competitive ones.

“It’s a good thing, you know. All of these different gamers come together, show off their skills and connect with each other,” said Moncy.

“It’s not about winning. It’s about the excitement.”

Moncy played in the esports tournaments at Algonquin College even before he became a student.

Students also clustered to play Super Smash Bros. against each other.

“It’s fun seeing everybody’s method for the characters,” said Zachary Looman, an Algonquin College student playing with a group of his classmates.

“The infamous Dr. Mario method has really shown to be clutch for Super Smash Bros. It’s pretty fun. you get to see how bad you are at everything. But it’s okay because it’s fun and we have a good time. It’s a good day,” said Looman.

Throughout the five-hour event, there were groups of students stopping to dance along to Just Dance 4 which was set up on a big projector screen.

The first students to show up and start the party were Jessica Pentland and Rhys Demianiuk.

“It’s really fun. I love Just Dance. And I saw Mario Kart, so I really want to try that,” said Pentland.

But the casual fun was only the half of it, according to Miller.

“On the competitive side of things, which is the greatest side of things, today, if you win or get top placements, you’ll win a gift card just to say you qualified. Then we usually have two to four qualifiers from each game that come into our main event against all the colleges after exams,” said Miller.

The top qualifiers for Super Smash Bros. and FC25 won $50 GameStop gift cards and will be going on to compete against qualifiers from other Ontario colleges on May 4 in an online tournament with a grand prize of $1,000 for the winner of FC25 and $500 for Super Smash Bros.

At Algonquin College, two qualifiers from each game advanced to the finals. Alex Popa came second in Smash, falling short to Herbert Broderick. In FC25 the winner was Ahmed Barry, with Sahil Yadav coming in as a close second.

“I won here last year but at the final event I lost unfortunately. This year there were way more people, and the competition was way harder than last year,” said Barry.

“But I’m still confident in myself. I play this game a lot. It was quite a bit of fun and a good experience.”

When asked if he thought he would win the main event this year, Barry was confident in his chances at the provincial tournament.

“One hundred per cent, I’m going to win this time for Algonquin,” said Barry.

Jason Girard, a close friend of Miller’s who has helped him host We Got Game for the past three years, sees a bright future in the esports events.

“This is an incredible industry. it’s a lot of fun and it’s exciting. I mean, what’s better than showing up to work and playing or watching people play video games? It’s amazing,” said Girard.

“We’re both getting up there in age, but hopefully this will continue for many years. We’ll see where it goes.”

Correction (March 22): Ahmed Barry won the FC25 tournament and Sahil Yadav came in second place. A quote that was previously attributed to Sahil Yadav was actually said by Ahmed Barry.