Beaumont’s esports head into county finals

On Oct. 28, a Saturday afternoon, Beaumont High School hosted an event unprecedented in the school district’s history: its esports tournament debut, featuring 12 teams from schools around the county.

Organized by the Riverside County Office of Education, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (SSBU) tournament was the in-person debut of Beaumont High’s first ever varsity and JV esports teams.

Beaumont’s varsity team pulled out an impressive victory against the other 11 competitors that day.

At the time, the team had only existed for a few weeks.

The digital world of esports

Christian Bonilla, a Digital Media & Game Design teacher at the high school, doubles as the teams’ coach.

“Esports, short for electronic sports, involves organized, multiplayer video game competitions,” Bonilla explained. “The SSBU esports program is competitive gaming centered around the popular video game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (SSBU).”

Since its release in 2018, the latest installment in Nintendo’s fighting game franchise has sold over 32 million copies for the Nintendo Switch, and remains among the most popular competitive video games.

Bonilla explained, “Players compete against each other in a tournament setting, showcasing their skills in a platform-fighting game that features characters from various gaming franchises.”

With the game fostering such a competitive and active community, it was only a matter of time before the competition arrived at Beaumont High.

But with esports being such a new scene, getting the program on its feet was a significant task.

Building a team

“I was approached last semester with the proposition of becoming the manager of a future esports team,” Christopher Morant, a senior at Beaumont High, stated as he recounted the early stages of the program.

Following expressed student interest and the approval of administration, Bonilla held tryouts at the beginning of the school year to find players talented enough to represent the school.

The tryout process consisted of multiple days of tournaments attended by dozens of Beaumont High students.

Morant, along with students Chelby Neuman and Draven Moreno, volunteered to take on behind-the-scenes roles to support the program. With their help, tryouts were a go, and Beaumont High found its varsity and JV SSBU players.

“I've always loved the game, and I try my best to get better at it,” said Katheryne Williams, one of the six students who made the cut into varsity.

Another student, Daniel Woodard recounted, “When I heard a Smash team was opening, my friends and I decided it’d be fun to try out for the team and hopefully get on it together.”

Woodard joined Patrick Lee, Paul Lee, Austyn Villa, Antonio Preciado and Kenji Abucejo to form the six-student JV team.

Team placement was largely based on performance during the tryout tournaments. The overall winner of the final tournament, defeating dozens of other competitors, was Beaumont senior Kayne Conley.

“I had played in competitive Smash tournaments outside of schools for two years, and Smash has always been my passion,” Conley stated. “Since I learned our school would be doing competitions for Smash, I knew I would be able to win and lead our team.”

Sure enough, Conley became the captain of the varsity SSBU team, joined by teammates Davin Rodrigo, Williams, Jacob Palmer, Vanderlei Saldana and Joshua Franklin.

Bonilla commented that he was lucky to fill all of the necessary roles, including players, team captains, team managers and technical support, “with some amazing students.”

“There is a lot of work that goes into launching a new athletic program. Coordinating tryouts, ensuring we had all the necessary roles filled, and aligning everyone’s schedules were intricate tasks. It was a bit like assembling a puzzle where every piece had to fit just right for the program to kick off successfully.”

By October, the teams had been finalized and game consoles had been ordered — just in time for the beginning of the CIF open season.

The open season

The varsity and JV SSBU teams played six games during the open season.

With technical assistance from Moreno and Morant, the matches were live streamed on the school’s esports YouTube channel.

“Ensuring we had the right technical setup — stable Internet, well-maintained equipment and tech support — was crucial,” Bonilla said. “Overcoming these initial hurdles was a learning curve, but it laid the foundation for the program's growth.”

Throughout the open season, the varsity team won four of its six games, ranking 29th in the league.

However, varsity player Rodrigo mentioned that his favorite moment in the open season was a loss, saying, “Even though I lost I definitely learned something.”

Similarly, Conley commented, “My favorite experience of open season was honestly the first time we lost. The players were genuinely much better than our team overall, and it proved to us that practicing would be much more important than we previously thought.”

The county tournament experience

The teams and the coach all agree that the most exciting experience of the esports program so far has been the Oct. 28 Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE) Tournament, in which Beaumont High’s varsity team placed first against 11 others.

Although the JV team was eliminated early on, the varsity team fought its way to the final match, where it faced off against Canyon Springs.

The theater was full of energy and excitement as the players from the two teams engaged in heated matches.

“Using the big screen in the theater was amazing,” Rodrigo said, “and it felt like I was really a part of something huge.”

The final match was also live streamed on the school’s esports YouTube channel.

In the final set of the match, Beaumont player Saldana struck a final impressive blow against his opponent, winning the tournament for Beaumont High as the crowd erupted into celebration.

“The RCOE tournament was the highlight of my esports career so far,” Conley commented. “The joining of multiple schools on our home turf was an amazing experience, which made our victory that much cooler. All of our players played their part and I made connections with other schools that entered, which proved to benefit us in the long run.”

The victory earned Beaumont High a spot in the RCOE Finals tournament taking place on Dec. 9.

The CIF esports preseason began Nov. 28, with the regular season commencing Jan. 15, 2024.

As for the future of the program, Bonilla said he hopes to expand.

“As we work toward the continued legitimacy of the program, I would like for the broader school community, even those who are not necessarily competitive gamers, to get involved and become a part of the esports community,” Bonilla said. “The ultimate goal is to weave esports seamlessly into the fabric of our school culture, raising awareness and making it as popular and inclusive as traditional athletic programs such as football or basketball.”