By James McGuirk

On April 1st, the SMU Esports Apex Legends team competed in the finals of a nationwide wide tournament. The finals marked the end of this small group's long journey of hard work. After the tournament, I sat down with one of the team's coaches, Mitchell Baker, to talk about the significance of this event and how the team has become pioneers in the Canadian Esports scene.

The SMU Apex team conducted tryouts in September of 2022, with around 45 people trying out; only six emerged on the team. Unfortunately, one player graduated, and two of the 6 went on co-op and had to leave, so they got knocked down to three players. The team had a lot of practice in the first semester of school, and in February of 2023, they started playing in the Telus Tournament. The tournament is significant as it is the highest-level tournament for Apex Legends Esports in Canada. The team was very interested in participating as a way of putting themselves on the map in terms of University Esports. Regarding Esports for Apex Legends, only a few other university teams exist in Canada.

Forty-one teams got past the tournament's qualifying round, which was followed by five weeks of preliminary rounds every Wednesday and Friday, with three games each night. It was leading up to April 1st when the top 20 of the 41 qualifying teams went up against each other for the finals. Just making it that far was an accomplishment for SMU, as it meant they were among the top 20 teams in Canada. Unfortunately, they had bad luck in the games and had to face off against the two highest-ranked teams twice in a row, putting them in last for the finals. At the end of the night, they placed 20th out of 20 teams. Although that might not seem significant, getting to be in the top twenty was the highest achievement they could have received.

Along with competing, the team practices two to three times a week. While an Esports practice may seem like they just play the game, there is quite a bit of work behind it. Along with dropping into games to get practice, the team studies maps and the game's mechanics. On Thursdays, they go into the firing range to work on the game's combat side. They are committed to the game, and while their schooling comes first, being a part of the team requires a lot of dedication.

Though SMU did not take home a first-place win, the team is proud of their overall performance and has high hopes for the future. They want to keep competing at higher levels and move into a larger league. They are not focused on the highest-level professional Apex Legends but on other high-level college and university leagues. There are only a few Canadian University Apex Legends teams, so they are trying to pioneer the scene and make it a bigger deal locally for universities. To combat the lack of Canadian teams, they plan to play at a more international level next year against universities and colleges from other places in the world. Since they can always play from SMU, they do not have to play solely Canadian-based teams. So, even though the Spring semester is coming to a close, the team has big plans for the future.

As an ending note, Mitchell wanted to make a point to say how proud he is of the team. They all put in the time and dedication to make it to the finals, and their shared love of the game makes them want to keep going. With a busy school life, it can be hard to keep up with extra-curricular activities, yet they stay devoted to the game and each other. For anyone that may be interested in Apex Legends or other Esports like Rocket League or Valorant, they will pick back up in the Fall, so remember to sign up when the time comes.

SMU is Pioneering the Canadian Esports Scene

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