Club 71 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings is best known as hosting club-level South Dakota State University football fans looking for a bite to eat and something to drink during weekend games.
But on this Friday and Saturday in March, Club 71 hosted athletes and fans of a much different kind.
More than 120 high school students from 16 schools took over the facility March 22 and 23 for the first South Dakota High School Esports State Tournament, sponsored by SDN Communications. Esports, short for electronic sports, will become a sanctioned sport in the fall, meaning these athletes are trailblazers in their sport.
Kaleb Dschaak, CEO of tournament organizer Fenworks, emphasized that during the opening ceremony where he introduced all of the schools following a rendition of the national anthem.
“This is really historic,” he said. “Imagine being a part of the first-ever basketball tournament for the state of South Dakota. This is just like that.”
Tournament organizers crowned champions in four titles:
- Rocket League
- League of Legends
- Super Smash. Bros
- chess (played virtually during the season but in person on a board at the state tournament).
Vanessa Halling of Tea Area High School was one of them. She is one of two girls on the five-person League of Legends team.
“I’m here to play but I’m excited to meet people,” said Halling, who ramped up playing video games during the pandemic.
Preston Rounds, who also plays on Deuel’s football team, said the team has grown closer and gotten better at communicating, just like what would be expected of his football teammates.
“It’s a game that is so dependent on communication and teamwork,” he said. “That’s one of the skills you can really improve on as a team. We struggled with that at the start, and now we are completely different.”
South Dakota High School Esports State Tournament Champions:
Chess — Aberdeen
League of Legends — Sioux Falls Inter
Rocket League — Sioux Falls Red Team
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate — Dakota Valley Ryan
