The clicking of controllers, the slamming of computer keys, the increasing stress in the team that’s about to lose, and the cheering and high-fiving of the winners. No matter who wins or loses in the Video Games Club, everyone leaves with a smile on their face.

Computer teacher Tyler Mastromarino created this club with a couple of his students during his first year of teaching back in 2023. Mastromarino said creating Video Games Club was a “spur of the moment thing” that was caused by a student wanting to play retro Mario games. Soon, it quickly “accelerated into a bunch of other games.”

With the creation of a new club, there is usually the question of how to bring awareness of the club and how to get people interested in becoming members.

“I first started advertising the club to my classes,” Mastromarino said. “This was with the idea of Mr. O’Connor, because he was aware that a lot of students would be interested in it. After I did that, I found out there were enough students that were interested within a week or two.”

The first ever meeting had eight attendees, but now there are usually around 32 students. Club meetings are not the only time during the day that kids can play video games.

“[Students] can just show up whenever, some people use to play [games] during their free periods as well,” Mastromarino said. “If they had H period off, they would come in here and set up a station.”

During meetings, students can bring in whatever they want to game with, but they are also welcome to use some equipment Mastromarino has.

“I have an Xbox and we have all new gaming PCs next door,” Mastromarino said. “I can create accounts for anyone, so people just show up. The super Smash Bros team usually gets a projector, but there’s a TV, another projector next door, and plenty of monitors.
It’s first come first serve, everyone sets up their stations and brings their own controllers.”

Meeting once a week and playing games isn’t all the Video Games Club does, they also compete in competitions. There are two that are hosted by the NHIAA each year, a Rocket League one and a Super Smash Brothers one. This year’s Super Smash Brothers competition is being held on Sun. March 23, 2025.

“We are defending our title in that one [Super Smash Brothers Competition] ,” Mastromarino said. “The competitions should be very close and competitive. There are a couple of other really good teams there for that and I want to say there is probably expected to be 16 schools from New Hampshire that sign up for it.”

Even though this club is only two years old and members have not been able to attend too many tournaments, they are creating a good reputation by being “the team to beat.” They have even been state champions two years in a row.

“Credit to all the guys that always show up and practice,” Mastromarino said. “We have been absolutely beating up on teams, beating them by 10 or so goals [in Rocket League]. It’s just a lot of fun to hang out and play games with all the fancy equipment.”

There are rankings for students who play competitively on their own. Some of the club’s “best” players are currently ‘Grand Champs One,’ and some also have had a rank of ‘Supersonic Legend tournament winner,’ which is the highest ranking in the game.

“I am just happy for the guys,” Mastromarino said. “I am happy to see that they don’t choke on the pressure.”

Whether they are in a tournament or just practicing after school, there is always a competitive nature to the club members.

“Just [playing] one on one against their friends grows the sport a lot,” Mastromarino said. “That’s all we can do. The main goal of this club is just to be welcoming, and to invite everyone.”

It is important to Mastromarino that the club is inclusive, where everybody is welcome to show up and either watch or play.

“I’m most excited to see everything grow,” Mastromarino said. “I think the more people that see it, the more it’s normalized. It’s a part of everybody’s lives now, especially in the digital age that we live in, not only is it a learning opportunity, it’s an extra competitive opportunity and scholarship opportunity moving forward.”

Having that extra social aspect of being with friends and being a part of a club is vital for every high school student, and this club provides just that.

“Show up and come talk to us, you don’t have to play,” Mastromarino said. “You can dip your toes in the water, see what it’s like, and see if you’re interested in playing.”