ESPORTS: TAMIU hosts first-ever scholastic esports event
By Kaily Olivo
Editor-in-chief
Published Monday, April 27, 2026
After being in the works for approximately six to eight weeks, on Saturday, April 18, Texas A&M International University Recreational Sports hosted its first-ever high school esports invitational.
What began with a United High School coach who reached out and gathered all of the United Independent School District teams together for a conference, later inviting Lared Independent School District, ended with a community of nerves, excitement and cheers between competitors, coaches, parents and watchers.
Dr. Leo Cigarroa High School senior Alfredo Cardenas, right, competes in a game of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Nintendo Switch during the Esports Invitational at TAMIU on April 18, 2026.
Recreational Sports Associate Director Tania Silva, who oversees recreational and competitive sports, shared her excitement and what the process was like, while highlighting the effort and dedication from the TAMIU esports students.
“We are beyond excited … I think with the time we had, we did as much as we could, and I actually would say very humbly that our students, they did all the work,” Silva said. “The esports students here at TAMIU, they are so technically savvy [from] the streaming to the headshots, everything you see on those screens, that was 100% them.”
Besides the big components, structure and registration, of this Super Smash Brothers Ultimate event that Silva recalled, she emphasized the opportunity that an event like this can bring to Laredo and TAMIU.
“I think with the high schools coming and us having our esports program we really wanted to just put out there into the public that this is a community,” Silva said. “Esports is a community, it’s not your traditional sport, but it’s definitely something that is growing … so we were just happy that we could be a part of the [high school] community, and we definitely wanted to bring them into ours.”
Apart from Silva’s excitement, Esports Specialist Eric Rodriguez shared his outlook on the event.
Although Rodriguez contributed more toward the management side—in terms of equipment, set up and operation—he shared his enthusiasm toward this event all around.
“I love this … I could be here all day if I wanted to,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve gone to many events in the past and it’s always like this: hearing the cheers … seeing peoples faces, smiling and all that. It’s a good feeling.
“Deciding what to do is kind of the easy part; having to execute the things, whether it’s like audio issues or like visual issues, it’s such a pain, but once you overcome it, it’s such a good feeling because you’re like, ‘Finally, we got this to work, now we’re ready.’”
Besides his enthusiasm and the perspective some may have when they hear esports, he shares his strong belief in advancing the esports community.
“A lot of people think esports, or just gaming in general, is just gaming, but esports is like advancing that,” Rodriguez said. “Just believe in it; it’s the future. Some kids, they really see that, and just like traditional sports, minus the obvious physicality of things, it’s a very mental thing, so be aware of that, be mindful of that.”
After cheers echoed throughout the room and fingers moved frantically all over the controllers, this invitational ended with United High School placing first, Alexander High School second and Cigarroa High School placing third in the team tournament.
As for the solo tournament, Eduardo Aguirre from United High School took first place, Avery Gerard from Alexander High School secured second and Diego Camarillo from United High school took third.
