NOLAN MILES

Sophomore Nolan Miles earns second place in recent tournament Kicking out the competition

Lily Thomas thomalil000@hsestudents.org

1 F eet Æew at the =.;. 2]nior /rand ;lam on 6o^. , a bracSetstyle competition between the top si` taeSwondo competitors in the =.;. at a certain age and weight class. ;ophomore 6olan 5iles, who ranSs second in the R]nior  Sg di^ision, competed at the =.;. 2]nior /rand ;lam and placed second. 0e began his taeSwondo career at the age of si`, attending classes at 5aster Aoo¼s ?orld +lass TaeSwondo. )fter eight years at 5aster Aoo¼s, 5iles began competiti^ely fighting and holds a blacS belt. Thro]gho]t his career, he has won se^eral gold medals and made it to the Y]arter finals at the =;)T 6ational +hampionships in  . TaeSwondo is a 3orean form of ]narmed self defense largely based on the ]se of SicSing. Team =;)¼s website describes it as the “]nity of body, mind and life.º “-^erything that 1 do in my life is impacted by taeSwondo,º 5iles said. “1t¼s ta]ght me a lot abo]t hard worS, worS ethic and staying foc]sed. 1f yo] lose foc]s, yo]¼re not going to maSe yo]r weight class, yo]r di^ision  and it¼s Cthe matchE only three min]tes, so yo] ha^e to maSe the most of it.º +]rrently, he competes with the =.;. Tigers, a team centered in /aines^ille,>irginia. 0e tra^els to >irginia on .ridays, trains with the team .riday night and ;at]rday, then ret]rns home on ;]nday. “-^en tho]gh it¼s a lot of hard worS beca]se yo] gi^e ]p a lot of time, 1 thinS it teaches yo] a lot,º 5iles said. “1t gi^es yo] a big part of yo]r life and it¼s really cool.º *esides the tra^el, other aspects s]ch as weight class contrib]te to 5iles¼ taeSwondo endea^ors. 5iles fights ]nder the  Sgs or  lbs di^ision, b]t he has a typical walSing weight of aro]nd  lbs. 0e m]st c]t abo]t  lbs to maSe the weight for each competition. “To really reach a high le^el, yo] ha^e to basically adopt the mindset of »Ao]¼re a fighter and yo] ha^e to do whate^er yo] can to win,¼º 5iles said. )ccording to 5iles, the oldschool taeSwondo was more physical and recSless than c]rrent taeSwondo. 0e said that it has become similar to foot fencing, which essentially means battling with one¼s feet. “1f yo]¼re act]ally doing it, it¼s ^ery interesting beca]se there¼s so many different strategies and things that yo] ha^e to Snow how to do,º 5iles said. “.rom a spectator¼s perspecti^e, it¼s not as interesting.º :ecently, 5iles attended a phase two talent 1, camp which gi^es =.;. 7lympic coaches opport]nities to assess athletes. 0e will train in +olorado ;prings to prepare for becoming a member of Team =;) for the  7lympic /ames. 5iles has tra^eled to o^er half of the =.;. for to]rnaments. 0e has an ]pcoming trip in .ebr]ary to ;weden for the -]ropean 7pen, and he has trained and competed in ;o]th 3orea. ?ith all this tra^eling, 5iles worSs to do both school and training. “1 really want to ha^e a balance between academics and the sport,º 5iles said. “1¼m staying foc]sed in school and trying to maintain it. 0opef]lly, 1 will be able to go to college either after 1¼m accomplished in taeSwondo, liSe going to the 7lympics, and then go to college. 7r do my training and attend college at the same time.º

Leveling up

(sports club e[pands rapidly in first year

Andrew Haughey haughand000@hsestudents.org

For students interested in playing video games such as Rocket League, Super Smash Bros and Minecraft with other students last school year, there were not many options. The Video Game Club existed but did not allow students the option to participate in local tournaments against other schools. This changed this school year with the introduction of the Esports Club.

Last year, the club was still in the developing stages and the logistics of playing games on school internet was being discussed with administration. Students such as senior Grant Liller, junior Alea Alvi, junior Garrett Beehler, junior Elizabeth Durbin and junior Kelsey Ortell, along with sponsor and math teacher Michael Buckman, worked to get the club formed.

Alvi said the process to start a new club is overwhelming but the other members of the club helped and seemed to be in tune with each other’s needs. Members are always willing to bring in the materials necessary, whether it be monitors, consoles, wires or controllers

“Planning a club like this is a huge process,” Alvi said. “It took a lot of planning meetings and messages to the school administration to get the ball rolling.”

The club is partnered with an external organization based in Carmel known as Player One Esports. The organization helps the club’s more serious members schedule and participate in events such as tournaments.

“Partnering with an external organization took some adjusting as well, since we now had professional representatives to mesh in with the huge process that club formation already was,” Alvi said.

Buckman said the club has grown rapidly in its first year. 7nce the main iss]es with the school network had been worked out, the club became publicized. Even though the process was daunting at first, esports cl]b gi^es st]dents the opport]nity to get in contact with other students who enjoy the same passion.

“We have so many students coming now that we split into three different classrooms and ha^e two additional adults that help run the club,” Buckman said.

*eehler said the cl]b was benefi cial for both students interested in playing single-player games and students interested in playing multiplayer games. ?hen it comes to practicing, ha^ing other players there can help.

“;ometimes players are talSing to each other and really trying to fi g]re things o]t together,º *eehler said. “?hereas sometimes it¼s more yo] trying to foc]s in on what yo] can impro^e on.º Meetings are held in STEM teacher Kasandra ,icSman¼s room, science teacher *righam .rench¼s room and *]cSman¼s room. ;t]dents are not reY]ired to bring their own consoles or controllers b]t can if they choose. *eehler said the most pop]lar console is the 6intendo ;witch beca]se of how portable it is.

The cl]b has started an ann]al to]rnament for teachers feat]ring the pop]lar race car and soccer hybrid game :ocSet 4eag]e. ,espite the cl]b being new this year, it has already had two to]rnaments.

“4ast year it was more of an idea that we sort of threw together to see if it¼d worS. ;o that was really f]n,º *eehler said.

The second to]rnament was 6o^.  and the -sports +l]b contin]es to looS for more opport]nities to maSe an impact on the school. The cl]b meets e^ery Th]rsday after school at  p.m. )nyone interested in Roining the cl]b can do so by contacting *]cSman at mb]cSman(hse. S.in.]s. Their ne`t meeting is Th]rsday ,ec. .