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UNM esports team wins national championship
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The weapons are cartoonish 鈥� inkbrushes or splat rollers or any other number of colorful options. The goal could be to capture the flag, paint as much ground as possible, or play basketball with a collection of clamshells.
The players are cephalopods.
The game: Splatoon 3.
The University of New Mexico鈥檚 Splatoon 3 team won a national collegiate championship in December, a milestone for the school鈥檚 esports program. It is UNM鈥檚 first esports national championship win. Splatoon 3 is a Nintendo video game released in 2022.
In competitive play, teams of four work together. Like many team sports, players fill different and complementary roles. A player might focus on defense, slay the competition or just stay alive to outlast the competition.
The university鈥檚 esports program has two Splatoon 3 teams: Cherry and Silver, the JV team. Each team has six players. Four people can play on a team at a time and two substitute players are available.
The players need quality communication for consistent performances, said Fernando Loya. He started the UNM Splatoon 3 teams in August and coaches the Cherry team.
鈥淭here was no team when I got here,鈥� Loya said, 鈥渁nd I really love Splatoon.鈥�
He wasn鈥檛 sure if anyone would try out, but several of his team members were thrilled to finally have a Splatoon team to play on.
Team co-coordinator Tony Devins had been waiting for a Splatoon team to come along. He coaches, plays and announces games.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a really fun game. Colorful, fast movement, fun music,鈥� said Devins, who played more traditional sports such as football and track growing up, a background he relies on for discipline and planning.
Zamari Ross loves Splatoon, but this is her first time on an esports team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really fun because I get to be with people who have the same interest as me, and we get to work together,鈥� Ross said.
Music education major Sammy Ortega has wanted to go to physical esports competitions for a long time.
鈥淎lthough online is great, it鈥檚 not the same thing as seeing your friends grow and participate along with you, and it feels amazing when you work together and you win,鈥� Ortega said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I wanted to join, because I get to see it happen, what鈥檚 typically behind a monitor.鈥�
Ortega doesn鈥檛 like shooter games, except for Splatoon.
鈥淭his game is a shooter, but it has twisted the natural steps in a way where it鈥檚 not just playing a game with a gun. It鈥檚 a lot more of working with your team, working with the other team, as weird as that sounds, focusing on patterns, figuring out what works and what doesn鈥檛 work,鈥� Ortega said.
The Collegiate Cephalopod Association offers nationwide Splatoon 3 tournaments with six divisions. The UNM team competed in Division 5. At one game a week, the whole season took over two months.
On game day, the team shows up an hour or two early for practice, then settles in to play. The format is best-of-seven games, with each game lasting anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour.
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 see esports as an actual sport,鈥� Loya said. 鈥淭hey think of sports 鈥� they think of American football, soccer, basketball. They think of physical activity. While esports doesn鈥檛 have the physicality of it, it鈥檚 got everything else. It鈥檚 got the teamwork. It鈥檚 got the mentality. It鈥檚 got the skill.鈥�
