The winter season for the FHS Esport Team has brought some great work and great celebrations!! For starters, the FHS Esports Club helped to sponsor and present the 3rd Annual "Walter Day National Esports Award Ceremony" on Saturday, Feb. 17th! This year honored over 130 individual players, teams, coaches and governing bodies in 6 different states! You can see past award recipients by clicking here. You will be able to see many of our student awards from the last two years as well as other awards from across the nation. The 2024 awards will include several of our current members as well as graduates such as our 2022-2023 Rocket League Champion team: Dimitri Petrimeas, Carter Stutzman, Ryan Higgins, Andrew Titze and Jacob Carlson!
Walter Day Mario Kart Tournament
As part of the Walter Day Tournament, there was a Mario Kart, Singles Tournament held at Fairfield High School that led up to the ceremony. This tournament was open to anyone of all ages. In total, there were 20 participants including middle school and high school students as well as college esports athletes. Local high schools had participants as well as those traveling from Marshalltown and Nevada. In the end, the final races were a heat for the ages!
The final 4 included two of the top Mario Kart athletes in the state as well as a collegiate National Championship runner up and a 2-time Collegiate National Champion!!! It was exciting to witness this 4-race match in person!! When the dust settled and the checkered flag was waved, Fairfield's very own Dimitri Petrimeas was standing tall as the tournament Grand Champion!! He will be honored at next year's ceremony as the tournament champion with his 4th Walter Day Trading Card. COLLECT THEM ALL!!!
Rocket League State Tournament
Shortly after the Walter Day Ceremony and Mario Kart Tournament, it was time for another great showing by the members of the FHS Rocket League Team!! In fact, it was their Back-To-Back State Tournament appearance for the IAHSEA Winter Showdown. The Rocket League team showed up to play. They started their day by taking out Williamsburg, who has developed as a conference rival in several titles. They took the win 3-0 in a "Best of 5" match. In the next round they took out Okoboji, to advance to the championship round. During these first two matches, the competition got tougher and tougher, but every team member played and contributed to their advancement in the tournament.
FHS then faced off against Forrest City in the Division 2 Championship Match. Although the match did not go as we had planned, the FHS Esports Club, coaches and players alike are proud of their run. This was not their match, yet they ended up as the state runner up...2nd best in the state!! Their season ended with a record of 9-1, their only loss was in the state championship match. 
Spring Season
This week marks the start of the Spring Season for the IAHSEA. Fairfield is competing in two of the three titles this time. First, the Trojans are hoping for another "Back-To-Back" state tournament appearance with their 3rd season of Mario Kart Team. Last spring, the FHS Mario Kart team made it to the state tournament, but fell short of their goal. This year they hope to repeat and go much deeper in the tournament through several returning players, as well as some new teammates. The FHS Mario Kart Team will play their varsity matches on Tuesday's for the next 7 weeks.
The second FHS team competing this season is a new team for the Trojans. Several of the athletes have come together to form a team and try their hand at varsity Valorant. This is the second new title that the FHS Club has taken on. The first was Rainbow 6 in the fall. Stay tuned to see how this brand new FHS team does. They will be competing on Thursday's for the next 7 weeks.
Honoring our own
For the second year in a row, the FHS Esports Club, with the help of several supporters in our community, have had pictures taken and posters made. In an effort to honor those student athletes that have devoted countless hours to the growth and support of our club, senior banners have been created and now hang in the hall outside of the Esports Arena, just down from our state tournament banners. Thank you again to all of our sponsors that helped to make this happen! Please feel free to come see the banners and support our teams in their spring titles, in person.
