The University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu Pueo Gaming esports club now holds a collegiate title. In February, the club received a trophy for winning its first championship in League of Legends in the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) Emergents West Division in December.
“This championship helped recognize the school and the club at a national level,” said Garrett Lau, president of Pueo Gaming. “Most colleges don’t hold an esports title yet, so it’s nice to still be one of the first schools to do it.”
Pueo Gaming League of Legends team members Melanie Denda, Trey Lum, Ari Nicholson, Cyrus Olivas, Josh Sato, and Darryl Tsutsui represented UH West Oʻahu on December 6, in the finals match against Mid-America Christian University (MACU) from Oklahoma.
Nationally competitive
The NECC Emergents West Division finals match for League of Legends (LoL)—a team-based strategy game where two teams of five champions face off to destroy the other team’s base—was a best-of-five series that lasted about five hours.
“I have been part of this team for a few years, and each time we played it was so much fun!” said Olivas, Pueo Gaming LoL team captain. “ This time around it seemed like winning was an actual possibility so it became stressful quickly, but that never took away from the enjoyment of the experience.”
The esports club was founded in 2020 and didn’t begin national competition until 2021. Since then, Pueo Gaming has competed in both local and national tournaments in various game titles.
Lau added, “Thank you to everyone who supported us and we hope to keep making all of you proud in the future as we look to bring home more championships to UH West Oʻahu!”
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—By Zenaida Serrano Arvman
