The 2023-2024 school year featured a new state sanctioned sport in South Dakota: ESports. Due to the groundwork laid by 2023 Woonsocket graduate Blake Howard in his senior project to set up an ESports club last year, this year’s official ESports team was ready to take the new sport’s league by storm to qualify for the State Competition and compete in Brookings on March 22-23. The ESports team also coordinated with the Woonsocket Chess Club this year to allow for a crossover activity.

ESports athletes competed with other schools throughout the season in a variety of video game challenges. The Woonsocket team was successful, winning many of their competitions. These accomplishments led to many team members qualifying for state. In the Rocket League game division, Woonsocket state qualifiers include Brendan Evans, Oscar Anderson and Teagen Eggleston, with Chance Machado and Garrett Aldrich as subs. Electronic Chess qualifiers are Brendan Evans and Oscar Anderson. In the Smash Bros. video game category, state qualifiers are Brendan Evans, Oscar Anderson and Briley Viktora.

The state tournament is free to attend, with doors opening to the general public at 9:30 a.m. at Club 71 inside of the Dana J Dykhouse Stadium. The event will also be live-streamed on Fensworks’ Youtube, Twitch, and Facebook pages.

…See a picture in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!