The eSports team had its last week of regular practice season before preparing to kick off for playoffs. The teams will be shifting, and official brackets consisting of new combinations of members will be finalized in the following weeks.

Tyler Kern, assistant coach of the eSports team, said that the team members have been preparing diligently for the upcoming playoffs, as well as state-level competitions scheduled for April.

“Once the final brackets are released from other schools as well, we’ll know what players we’ll be facing,” Kern said. “We’ll be looking at past competitions and gauge different teams’ gameplay methods. From there, we’ll match up kids from other schools to ours to counter effectively.”

Christopher Cunningham, senior and the current top player of the eSports Smash Ultimate team, has taken on a leadership role to help his teammates prepare.

“The other day, I went to a mock tournament at another school to get in some practice,” Cunningham said. “I do a lot of tournaments outside of school that I’m not required to attend, just for extra practice.”

Cunningham also said that he has great aspirations for the team in the future, and strives to improve the morale of the members as a whole.

“If I can ever influence the team to help them practice and improve, that’s what I do,” he said. “I would say I have the most experience in the team by far; and I feel like I have a big responsibility to help others.”

Additionally, Carmel High School’s eSports team has had a streak of wins in both district and state playoffs since before even the current senior varsity members can recall. Cunningham said that he hopes to uphold the streak and serve as a good example for upcoming underclassmen.