Competitive gaming is something I’ve been involved in for quite some time. My first genuine experience on a competitive team was in Team Fortress 2 (abbreviated TF2) in 7th grade. Although TF2 is not a widely popular game nor an eSport, the competitive scene is entirely built by and supported by the community, unlike more popular games such as Valorant or Overwatch where the company directly supports their competitive scene.

TF2 was always marketed as a casual game, yet as I practiced my mechanics day after day, I was left wanting more, leading to me creating my first competitive team with some online friends that I’d met through the game. To say it was an utter disaster would be an understatement. We started in the lowest division: Iron, we lost every match and frequently had scheduling issues as we were all still just kids trying something new for the first time, however, what mattered was that we had fun, and many of us continued to pursue getting better at the game to reach higher divisions. I practiced and played for a few years since and reached quite a high level and have met honestly hundreds of different people before ultimately burning out. Many times I’ve sacrificed time that could’ve been spent better, but truly I can’t say that I regret it.

The people I’ve met have been a mixed bag and that is partly why I didn’t have the motivation to come back to the game, but with multitudes of friends I’ve made entirely outweigh any negative experiences I’ve had and were the motivator towards my founding of the club. I want people to get involved in competitive gaming so that they can have the experiences that I had. Having fun and meeting new friends. However, I want to provide a space where those who are new can be protected from the negatives that a competitive online experience can bring such as toxicity, unhealthy practices, and addiction.