By Staff Writer Zach Lunghi.
This past Sunday, Woodland Commons found itself to be the stage for the Smash Bros Club 3rd fundraiser tournament this year.
For this event, the club elected to benefit both the Boston Children’s Hospital and our school’s food pantry, Arnie’s Cupboard. A portion of all entry fees were donated to the hospital, and canned foods were collected at the door for Arnie’s Cupboard. The club also provided complementary foods/drinks for anyone who attended.
The contestants were incentivized with the chance to battle it out in Super Smash Bros: Ultimate and, possibly win varying amounts of Amazon gift cards.
Awarding $50 to first place, $30 to second and, $20 to third. The playoff bracket consisted of roughly 30 participants, including both students and non-students. They played in a double-elimination styled match, meaning once you lost twice, you were done. The tournament kicked off at 2:00 pm and took about 6 hours to complete. At the end of the day, “Pilgrim” came in first place, followed by “Chippy” in second and, ”Karma” at third.
This is the first event the club has done in benefit for the Children’s Hospital and it’s safe to say they did not disappoint.
They estimated to be donating a total of around $100 and, have plans to follow this up with another event on March 23. To help increase these donations, the entire tournament was broadcasted to Twitch, a game-streaming website, the stream included a link to their donation page for any viewers who couldn’t attend on Sunday.
The efforts to raise donations for the Children’s Hospital were in tandem with a campus wide fundraiser organized by students out of the College of Nursing.
Matthew Machado was the representative at Sunday’s event and informed me that he specifically reached out to the Smash Bros Club. Machado is a firm believer that we should all be able to raise money for important causes but not all types of fundraisers appeal to all people.
So, having a Super Smash Bros tournament was a perfect opportunity to increase campus involvement amongst all individuals.
According to Club President, Stefan Bruendl, this is the 8th tournament they’ve held all year and the number will continue to rise. Every Thursday at 6:30 pm, they host free to play tournaments, located in the Claire T. Carney Library at room 207.
These tournaments are available to students and non-students. Bruendl invites all to join them and it’s encouraged to bring guests.
The group has seen steady growth since 2014 and they hope to continue this trend. For more information you can visit their Facebook page, UMassD Smash Bros, or contact the group through our school’s website.