SCAD Pokémon Club hosts Valentine’s Day Tournament
After suffering an hour and a half delay and a last-minute change of venue from the Oglethorpe House Ballroom, the SCAD Pokémon Club held its Valentine’s Day Tournament on Feb. 15. Alex Burrows, vice president of the club, said miscommunication with SCAD’s Inter-Club Council were to blame.
“Our ICC representative was never notified that the Ballroom, which we had booked from 2-5 p.m. according to ICC, had been reserved by Residence Life and Housing from 2-4 p.m.,” said Burrows. “Because of their presentation and higher priority, it was impossible for our two groups to share the room, leaving us scrambling for a venue.”
And this isn’t the first time the club had trouble scheduling with ICC. According to Adrianna Bravo, the club’s treasurer, they were double booked with a Magic: The Gathering tournament last weekend. The week before, it was SCAD A Cappella.
“We always try to book our rooms on time, but they either ignore us or double book us with other clubs,” said Bravo. “I would prefer that they send a message a couple days in advance that they don’t have a place for us. It seems that they just pretend to let us have the room.”
The club relocated at the Boundary Village common room an hour and a half later, finally able to start their tournament. Participants formed teams and battled each other with games X and Y on Nintendo 3DS. Despite the delay, entrants like Alyson Hopper, the club secretary, still enjoyed the tournament.
“I had a lot of fun in the tournament even though my first battle was a loss,” said Hopper. “Unfortunately, due to the setbacks, we had to split the tournament in to two club meetings. It’s unfortunate and I would have preferred to see it finished in one day, but things happen and we have to adjust accordingly.”
Burrows said he still considers the tournament a success, even though it had to be split into two parts.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about having fun, and again, once things started rolling, it was very fun! We had a case of ‘rage-quit’ and another case of a bully, and while those may have been terrible instances for some, for the most part I believe everyone enjoyed themselves.”
The tournament will conclude Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. in the O-House Ballroom.
