The E-Sports team at Muscatine High School opened this year, and there has been a recent uproar. Three popular games are spread out during the seasons, and people are ready to play.
Mr. Vitali, a math teacher at MHS, runs the team. With a burning passion for video games and a love for all his students, Mr.Vitali was undoubtedly fit for this role.
“I’ve been playing video games since I was 6 years old, and I’ve been teaching for so long. So, what I wanted was an outlet for the kids I know a lot of kids aren’t in sports,” said Mr. Vitali.
Mr. Vitali emphasizes this idea that many kids aren’t in sports. So, his vision was to help build bonds in the e-sports team, and create the “Team Comradery” he wants them to experience.
But there are other things he hopes to achieve with this team.
“A medium-term goal is to fundraise money to get jerseys for the kids. And a long-term goal is to fundraise even more money to get better computers, and to branch out into middle school level eventually.”
Just like a lot of programs, especially those that are smaller, less known, or newer, the logistics of funding can sometimes get in the way. Mr. Vitale though has been steadfast in addressing this.
“The biggest thing to achieve this is fundraising. I also want volunteer coaches to help me with this stuff. We’re going to have a Spring and Winter fundraiser. We sell Sal Vitale’s pizza in the spring, and we are still deciding what to do during the winter,” he said.
With the fundraisers, they can afford a multitude of things. He further presses that they’ll need money for the tournament’s admission. Like the one they had last week. With four intense games coming out 3-1, overall triumphant in the end.
He sets the scene for the tournament by saying, “The environment was exciting. Everyone’s heads in the clouds and feet on the ground. We had to play four games against an undefeated team, and one of the other things that made it hard was we had to put sub-players to fill in others. But we ended up winning 3-1!”
With Vitale’s passion and leadership, there is a bright future for the E-Sports team.
As some Rainbow Six Siege players might understand, a good way to think about the future of the program is “Fuze’d to lose, ready to blow this match wide open!”
Make sure to show support for the team by participating in future fundraisers, or just cheering them on!
