The NVD Esports team made a name for themselves this season after battling through the competitive state championship to secure a second-place finish, highlighting the rapid growth and development of the program since its start in the Northern Valley just a few years ago.
Esports at NVD began surprisingly recently.
“Esports in the Valley started around 2019–2020. Here specifically, it started in the 2021–2022 school year,” Mr. Marconi said.
This spark came from Paris Escobar, a junior at the time of the team’s founding. Escobar pushed the idea forward after finding out that Old Tappan already had a team.
“She was like, hey, OT (Old Tappan) has an Esports team. And usually, if one school has something, the other school is supposed to have it as well,” Marconi said.
The founding is entirely credited to Escobar’s efforts to start the team.
“She got people together, she got all the information, she applied, went through administration, got it approved – and then we started the Esports team,” Marconi said.
Stemming from Escobar’s interest in Esports came the first season of the NVD Esports team, playing Valorant in the spring.
“So the first thing that we had, that Paris knew that we had, was a Valorant team,” Marconi said.
Their very first year and season playing, they came second in the state. This pattern of making it into the playoffs but just falling short of a state title has become a tradition for this rising team.
“Always the bridesmaid, never the bride,” Marconi said.
This year, NVD stood out in the fall season game Super Smash Bros. Junior Jun Furukawa was described as the team’s star player this fall season, placing second in the state competition.
“Jun is our all-star player for Smash (Super Smash Bros). He is absolutely incredible at the game,” Mr. Marconi said.
Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts of the state championship game and NVD’s production of “Dracula,” Coach Marconi had to support Furukawa online rather than in person.
“We got down to game three, final match, final players. One stock each, Jun versus their Zelda player. It just came down to whoever was gonna connect with Smash first. Zelda just had the hit and out went us,” Marconi said.
Despite the loss, Marconi and Furukawa remain hopeful for the Esports team’s Spring season and the 2026 school year.
“A lot of our Valorant players did graduate. But you always have new people coming in, and you never know how good they’re gonna be. So I expect a decent season for Valorant,” Marconi said.
Generally, Esports teams run through three seasons (fall, winter, spring) with different games for each. Such games include League of Legends, Super Smash Bros, Rocket League, Overwatch, Street Fighter 6, and Valorant. However, games change depending on the discretion of Garden State Esports (GSE).
Not only does the season depend on what the GSE allows them to play, but it also depends on the number of players.
“It depends on interest, depends on how many people come out. That’s going to shape what our season looks like and how many players are on the team,” Marconi said.
Super Smash Bros doesn’t require as many players, whereas Valorant could have up to ten players for the season.
Unlike other sports at NVD, the Esports team regularly practices on their own time at home. Aside from that, however, the fancy computers you see in the Nook are a key factor in their training. The Nook houses its streaming equipment and space for competitions. Players also bring their own consoles, like Nintendo Switches for Super Smash Bros, but they religiously fight with the school’s Wi-Fi.
For new members, joining is relatively easy. You just have to fill out a seasonal interest form from Coach Marconi. Some games, like Valorant, require rank assessments as it’s the most popular and competitive.
“We can usually have maybe a full 10 players for Valorant because you can always have a number of subs equal to the number of main players,” Marconi said.
While Smash is usually a solo game, games like Valorant require teamwork like traditional sports at NVD.
“You need everyone to play their position,” Marconi said. “We have a tank, healer, DPS — you need to know your role and play it well.”
Getting to the state championships year after year, yet never achieving the win, Marconi and the Esports team continue to train for the belt; this year, the massive Garden State Esports championship belt is like a boxing and wrestling-style prize.
For Furukawa, this Smash season’s star player, gaming has been his lifelong hobby.
“I’ve been playing since I was a toddler,” Furukawa said, having played Super Smash Bros throughout middle school and into high school.
Despite constant success and breezing past the playoffs into state finals, NVD’s Esports team is still growing and creating a presence.
“It all comes down to interest and people taking that step to sign up,” Marconi said.
(The Esports team is searching for more players, broadcasters, and social media managers for their upcoming seasons. If you are interested, please reach out to Mr. Marconi or the Northern Star.)
