Gauntlet at the Market
Parkville Market
Hartford
Feb. 3, 2024
I’ve alternated between being a teacher and tutor, off and on for the last 20 years. And many, many moons ago, I was a competitive videogame player. I’ve always focused on fighting games — Super Smash Bros., Street Fighter, and Guilty Gear primarily.
My last job in teaching (right before I started writing here, actually) allowed me to combine both roles. I became an eSports assistant head coach. Believe it or not, Connecticut has a budding eSports scene, with high schools all across the state fielding teams in games like the aforementioned Smash, Rocket League and League of Legends. Even though I don’t coach anymore, I still stay in contact with the kids from the team to give them pointers and play matches.
When I saw that Parkville Market was hosting a videogame tournament sponsored by Gamer’s Guild and UA Academy, featuring Tekken 8, Mortal Kombat One and Street Fighter 6, I told everyone I knew that they had to come, from my friends to my former students.
And what should happen, but my friends end up facing my former students?
The tournaments were held in the back of Parkville Market, in a section that usually serves as an additional bar area. I hadn’t been to a tournament in years, so it was great to see familiar faces for the first time in a while, and check out all the new arcade sticks and fighting game controllers that had come out in the past few years.
While my friends and I were there to play Street Fighter, we decided to join the Tekken 8 tournament just for fun. I’ll be honest: I am terrible at Tekken. I like playing it, but I’ve never put the time in to learn the game and how it works. I’m definitely a classic button masher. Of course, that’s what my student, who goes by the handle antiv3nom in tournament, was there for.
They were matched up against my friend (who goes by TheKidTheBoy) in the very first match of the tournament. My loyalties were torn: Should I root for the wunderkind, or should I stick with old man solidarity? I decided to choose neither side, and just sit back and enjoy.
As it turns out, tournaments are a young person’s sport. Antiv3nom beat TheKidTheBoy, sending him crashing into the loser’s bracket. I joined him soon thereafter, as my opponent beat me without losing a round. I fared no better in the loser’s bracket, and was out of the Tekken tournament.
My quick exit from the bracket gave me the chance to catch up with Jamaia Smith, founder of UA Academy. He loves fighting games as much as everyone else in attendance, but his mission goes beyond running tournaments.
“I worked at ESPN as a computer graphics designer,” he explained. “While I was there, I attended a meeting where I learned that only 2 percent of the people employed in computer graphics design are Black. I want to change that statistic and get more people from our community involved.”
After winning an Emmy at ESPN, he left the sports giant and founded UA Academy. He runs after school enrichment programs in Hartford where he introduces students to computer graphic design, and a dojo every Saturday where players come to learn and practice. He draws inspiration for his work from one of the most famous examples in Black history.
“My main motivation is the Black Panther Party. If they can do a free breakfast program, then how can I give back to my community? The fight isn’t over, and we need new leaders to stand up.”
After we spent a few minutes aweing at the leadership of the BPP and Fred Hampton, I couldn’t help but be inspired. The Street Fighter tournament was fast approaching, and I was ready. It was my time to shine. I got focused and prepared to head into battle…
…and lost. 0 – 2, out of the tournament. Including a loss to Mr. Smith in a nail-biter. I’ll leave the brackets to antiv3nom from now on, and just stick to writing about it.
NEXT
UA Academy holds its fighting dojo every Saturday at Parkville Market from 6 – 10 p.m.
Jamil heads to TheaterWorks to check out their latest play.
