At the PlayVS National High School Championship on June 1st, the Southwest Squids secured a victory against the competing team, the ATC Mammalians. The first place win came with a $6,000 scholarship to be distributed among the competing members of the team. 

“I was very surprised and overwhelmingly happy,” Team Captain Carl Reiner said. “I woke up with only four hours of sleep, because I just kept dreaming about our matchup. But when we went into that game- we somehow swept them 3-0. No words can be used to describe it.”

The recent win at the national competition follows the regional competition victory in December of last year, in which the Squids defended their perfect record with another 3-0 victory. The match was streamed live on Twitch, where an audience of several dozen spectators commented on the game. 

“This past month has been very, very strenuous,” Reiner said. “I’ve been planning accordingly with my team, practicing and making sure that we take home some wins. I can assure you that if we did not practice, we would have had some slip ups, and probably would not have been here right now.”

One of the competing members of the Southwest Squids has elected not to receive the prize money due to a lack of need- it will instead be going to their single substitute player who filled in for one tournament competition. This means the winnings will be split evenly four ways. 

“Scholarship money is not something I put my mind on too much,” Reiner said. “However, I definitely think that this money will be very helpful in my pursuit of film production. This could really help with paying off for those classes when I go to UNLV in a couple of years.”

The team is currently unsure whether it will plan to compete again next year. But for now, with the tournament season officially concluding, the Southwest Squids hold the title of the PlayVS National High School Champions for Splatoon 3. 

“I’m very proud of what they’ve accomplished,” ESports Coach Monte Carman said. “The teamwork they demonstrate during matches has been the main thing that has set them apart from their competitors and that teamwork and comradery has carried over outside of game days. It’s been an amazing experience to go from not having a school team- to now- where we have the number one team in the nation for our event.”