Hit, kick, and throw, Smash Bros has returned along with Rafe Pisarik for another year.

Pisarik, a junior, will begin his second year playing on the Esports: Smash Bros team at Mount Vernon High School. His hesitation to join last year didn’t stop him from growing to love the sport. He is excited to begin strong with the rest of his team. “Messing around with all of my friends, yelling a lot, and cheering people on,” is what makes the experience worthwhile to Pisarik.

In Smash Bros, each player on the five-player team chooses a character, then goes head to head with one of the opposing teams’ members. Matches are decided in a best of five format, where the first team to win three games takes the match. One of Pisarik’s favorite memories from competing was when his opponent’s character threw a fire hydrant at him and he won the match by throwing it right back.

As Esports begins, Pisarik is itching for practices to start. “My favorite part is probably just the practices because my friends are there and I just want to hang out with them,” he said. “Then towards the end of the season, I started to get a little more competitive.” Esports practices fit perfectly into Pisarik’s lifestyle, and it comes with some extra perks. “It is entirely a way to spend my free afternoon, where instead of going home and doing chores, I get to hang out in a room with all of my friends and play video games.”

After a year of being on the team, Pisarik gained much appreciation for Esports. He’s enjoyed having “competition that isn’t really that competitive. It’s a way to spend the afternoon and not some diehard championship.” The Esports atmosphere is one of Pisarik’s favorite things about his activity. “It’s not varsity football,” he said, “It’s very light-hearted especially the practices, a lot of people are just messing around and they don’t take it too seriously because it’s video games.”

All in all Esports is the ideal activity for anyone interested in making their way into the sports world. While it’s not a physical activity, the players still know what it feels like to be on a team and have the joy in winning with them.