Has Bob Jones’ Smash Club achieved its goal of competitive gaming in a relaxed environment?

In April of last year, senior Quan Nguyen unofficially started Smash Club, Bob Jones’ recreational group that meets every Thursday to play Super Smash Bros, a series of fighting games developed by Nintendo. The games feature a host of Nintendo characters that players control to defeat their opponent.

Super Smash Bros. is so popular that it even has a large competitive scene, which sparked Quan Nguyen’s idea to bring that scene to Bob Jones. “I wanted to create an environment where students could compete with each other or socialize in a relaxed atmosphere,” Quan said.

At first, the club consisted of only a select few students; however, at the beginning of this school year, more and more students began to participate in the club. Mrs. Huskey agreed to sponsor it, making it an official school organization.

Some people, such as senior Arron Grenier, dislike the growth of Smash Club. Arron said, “Although the club can be a fun and relaxing environment, many of the members that now show up can get pretty loud and annoying.” Arron’s view of the new members portrays an atmosphere opposite of the club’s goal; this one is annoying rather than relaxed.

Quan Nguyen counters that, in the past, members were a little loud. Now, however, he says, “Everyone’s having fun, we have tournaments every month to establish ranking, so we’re still on course.”

The club has made improvements towards their goal of a competitive environment, too. There are different versions of the game that are played on multiple consoles, catering to a broader audience. Also, members have recently brought in another Wii U, which has settled the fuss over who got to play and when by opening up more slots for players.

Smash Club also has a ranking system that sorts the members by skill level. This helps members improve by fighting equally skilled opponents and allowing them to learn from their mistakes. Their tournament brackets have a system of bans for characters, mirroring the professional play that inspired Quan to create the club.

Regardless of whether it is a bunch of loud high schoolers playing video games or an organized group of gamers, Smash Club is no longer the small group of students that it began as. Many students have joined, and hopefully, it will continue on once Quan Nguyen and the other seniors graduate.