CTEA Summer Recap and Autumn Expectations

Howdy all! We have a lot to discuss so I am going to try and keep it to the point. We have results from our Fortnite Teams VHEL season, fun and exciting new programs, new ways to improve your skill this fall, and some updates on how our upcoming seasons will go! I’ll try to keep it concise so let’s just jump straight into it. 

Let's start out with a quick overview of our three CT Storm Fortnite Duos teams and their performances this season! James "prdgy Edgy" Lillis and Owen "Hollywood1000t" Schirf of CTEA Maroon competed in Division 1, and took the crown for most eliminations of our 3 pairs. The duo earned 13 kills throughout the regular season and 4 during the playoff bracket, ending the tournament in 21st place overall. Close behind them was CTEA Gold, piloted by Jaiden "Its_ManateeYT" Chamberlain and Jack "ALTO_JACK248" Tomasulo, finishing the playoffs in 22nd place. The pair of multi-sport athletes ran into some scheduling conflicts throughout the summer with baseball and football, but that didn't hold them back. Team Gold earned the highest single-game placement of all CT Storm teams from the season, with an impressive 5th-place finish during week 5 of the regular season! Last but certainly not least, CTEA Azure of Division 2 showed their consistency all summer by averaging a top-12 placement throughout all 14 drops! The duo of Joseph "PhonicAmoeba901" Patterson and Nick "SweetCountry6377" Kirkman ranked 10th in the main season and 9th in the playoffs, earning them the highest VHEL standing of all CT Storm teams this summer. Great work and congratulations to all our players, we’re looking forward to seeing what these teams can pull off in the Fall season!

Let's slow it down a bit and go over the upcoming schedule. For the first two weeks of August (from the 5th to the 16th) we’ll be holding our normal practices from 5:30-7:00. With the Fortnite season concluded, the later 7:00-8:30 window is no longer being held. The rest of our schedule is unchanged,  so programs such as Social Club and Tournaments will continue at their regular times (the remaining two Tournaments being Minecraft Bedwars on August 9th and Mario Kart on August 16th). CTEA Wilton will be closed the following two weeks for some cleanings, vacations, and general behind the scenes prep (August 17th - September 2nd). We’ll be back on September 3rd, the day after Labor Day, and introducing a host of new programs and classes for Wilton. Let’s take a look at the new schedule and some of the new classes and ways we’ll be doing esports in the fall at Wilton.

I think the new program I am most excited for is our Esports Bootcamp. For those who have been with us, this will function similarly to our previous practice system with a few new tweaks and a new name. For September, Esports Bootcamp will be a fast-tracked preparatory program focused on ensuring that any of our CT Storm competitors are ready for their Fall season. In the following months, the pace will slow down to a more regularized practice format. Bootcamps will run from 5:30-7:00 each week with a monthly cost of 100$ for YMCA members and 150$ for our non-YMCA members, both in and out of season. 

For those looking to participate on an Esports Team, that will now be a separate cost, a pay-by-season model where you can sign up to just do the season if you wish. This would be for those who have schedule conflicts during the earlier time, want to save a little by doing just the season (or inverse, not wanting to compete but improve their game through boot camps or if a team is not put together for your desired esport). Another reason you may do this is as a remote player. This season will be our first time at Wilton doing a fully remote option for those unable to make it in person. To do so you would sign up for just the Season and have remote access to practices to the bootcamp as well as the VHEL Season. For anyone looking to participate in the season you should sign up for the new Esports Team on daxko when it becomes available. 

The last thing of note is that VHEL does preseason scrimmages with teams so if you are interested in participating all you need to do is be signed up for the Bootcamp as well as the Season (your desired Esports Team) prior to October and at the end of September we will have two preseason scrimmages against other VHEL teams. The VHEL season will go from October 7th to December 16th and be one cost of 300$ for YMCA members and 350$ for non-YMCA members. If you require any help paying or wish to do this in installments please let peter@ctesportsacademy.com know via email and something can be worked out. Also if you have any questions about anything from this newsletter please send an email to Peter.  

Let’s go through some of the other programs that we have upcoming in the fall: 

My personal favorite outside of Esports is the new Party Games! class. This is a chance to play some party games, gain some insight into how they work, and make some new friends. From Super Smash Bros to Mario Party and more, we’ll be listening to our participants and getting them set up with a fun game to play every single week on Thursdays! 

Tournaments will also be making their return for the fall, with a new rotating set of games and challenges to face off against your friends in. For the fall all members of a CTEA program will have free entry but for members not part of any of our programs it will be a 5$ charge per person. These funds will be going towards prizes for our tournaments as well as other events we are planning to host at the YMCA. 

We are starting an Afterschool Gaming Club in the fall, where you can relax after school with some friends and play some games. Whether you are waiting to be picked up, have nothing to do after school and want to game with your friends, or just looking for something fun to do before hitting the gym join us Mondays - Thursdays from 3:00 - 4:00pm. You can drop in at the last second or sign up for specific days you know you’ll be there when the new YMCA sign up page has been finished.  No curriculum or learning, just good gaming vibes. 

Robotics Class is coming back in the fall for two sessions, a beginners course from September 3rd to October 15th and then a more intermediate session from October 22nd to December 10th. Robotics will consist of teaching the basics of building and coding and then delving deep into a project of the students design to build something completely of their own desires. At the end of both sessions we’ll be handing out trophies and certificates for those who participated the whole way through and did exemplary in participating in the course material. 

Minecraft Wednesdays is another new program for the fall, a gaming experience where we take on a new world with wild challenges and fun experiences as we delve deep into a server with extensive lore, rewards, and experiences. We’ll be recording snippets from each day we play minecraft and putting together a fun exciting time lapse of all the progress that we make to post online. Whether you are more into mining, crafting, adventuring, or building you are more than welcome to join our Minecraft Wednesdays Club and help us on our goal of making a beautiful world on our Minecraft Server. Participants will also have access to the server outside of our Minecraft hours. 

About as concise as any of my essays in college would have been but that’s the full fall schedule, some new programs, returning programs, and what you can expect from CTEA this upcoming season. I will be sending out a short email before the end of August when all of our programs are ready to be signed up for so keep an eye out and hopefully we’ll see a lot of you, and some new faces, this fall! Once again thank you all for sticking with CTEA and have a wonderful August.