Lamphere Schools has had an E-sports team for a long time now, but recently it was their time to shine as Oakland Schools hosted its first ever Mario Kart tournament. This tournament created an intense, fun and exciting environment for students to experience. The event held 22 fierce competitors testing their strategic thinking and quick reflexes in the stressful conditions of one of Nintendo’s most beloved games.

The tournament was organized using a single-player, double-elimination format, giving each participant a fair opportunity to stay in the competition even after a loss, this format kept things exciting and intriguing to watch. One of the highlights of the tournament was the strong performance from student competitors Max Polito and Jacob Kish. Max Polito secured (second or 3rd place) student Jacob Kish didn’t fall short either doing great things for the Lamphere e-Sports team in this competition. Both students proved their dedication and efforts to this team and will continue to do so throughout the season!

Beyond the competition, the event created an inviting and welcoming environment where students could bond over shared interest and love for games. Participants were able to meet new people, build friendships, and support each other while enjoying a game that many of us grew up playing and due to the tournament’s strong turnout and participation there is excitement about the possibility of future gaming events at lamphere and are hopeful that this successful first tournament will inspire even more students to get involved and may even expand to include additional Nintendo games and larger competitions.

Max Polito interview :

• What was a positive for helping you place as high as you did in the tournament?

“Mario Kart was one of my favorites growing up, I’ve been playing since i was 6 and its been one of my favorites to play with my friends and family and i’ve had such motivation to do so well because the ones who inspired me to play it were there cheering me on.”

• What encouraged you to join esports

“I’ve been playing these games for a long time and my favorite thing to do in my free time and I’ve looked forward to joining and I’ve been told by my peers that had a natural talent and some of my other friends from robotics told me I should join so i gave it a shot and decided to do it, it’s good for beginners, there’s experienced people to help you and help you progress as well.”

• What is esports (what do you do), and why do you recommend for people to join?

“It stands for electronic sports. You play video games but it is more than that because most people play by themselves but this is a better way to connect with others and meet other people who have similar interests. When you play with other people it’s not just how good you can do it’s how well you can work in a team together if you’ve only been doing it a couple weeks and I’ve already met a lot of new people from it.”