S.O.S. Gamers, a New York-based non-profit organization, recently announced plans to launch a Youth Smash League in an effort to offer local children a positive environment in which they can both learn and play. Naturally, there are costs involved with such an undertaking, so the team has set up a donation page through Indiegogo in order to allow those who believe in the program to offer monetary support.
At this time, S.O.S. Gamers hopes to raise $5,000 in order to run a three-month trial period for their Youth Smash League program. Donations will be put toward necessary equipment as well as uniforms and prizes for participants.
In order to learn more about their efforts, we contacted S.O.S. Gamers yesterday afternoon and were able to conduct an informal interview with the company’s president, Kwabena “Kubuu” Ampofo, and vice president, Antoine “DA|Wes” Lewis-Hall.
[Editor’s note: Some responses have been altered slightly for the sake of clarity.]
Shoryuken: The Super Smash Bros. series has obviously had a large impact on both of your lives. If you would, tell us a little bit about your history with these games as well as the community that surrounds them.
Antoine “Wes” Lewis-Hall: My name is Antoine and my gamer tag is DA Wes. My Smash career started in 2003 and I am the founder of the greatest and oldest Smash team called Deadly Alliance. Deadly Alliance houses some of the biggest names in the Smash community from the past and present–people like PC Chris, BUM, Ninja Link, Dron, Jtails, DKwill and the list goes on. The team was built on brotherhood. We didn’t only attend tournaments, we helped contribute to the growth of the community in many ways: organizing tournaments, streaming, commentating, and holding training sessions. I’ve always been known in the community as a free-spirited person and have always tried to innovate things in the community; that usually set me apart from most. But overall I’m still in this community 13 years strong because I love this game and still want to be a part of this community to help it grow in the right direction.
Kwabena “Kubuu” Ampofo: As for me, I’ve been playing Smash since my high school days when the Nintnedo 64 version came out. I’ve always been a huge Nintendo fan and when the chance came for me to use Link in a 4-player Brawler, my choice was clear. As time went on, I continued playing in my college days when Melee came out and that’s when I really started to get involved in the community by going to tournaments, hosting Smashfests, building the DC++ Hub, etc. It’s also how I came to be a part of Deadly Alliance, which is easily the longest standing Smash team. I remember going to a tournament when I was in college in Rochester, New York, and I saw a whole team of players just bopping people. I was like, “Who are these guys?” And that was the day that I really became super invested in getting better and doing what I could to help grow the community. One thing that I always found amazing was just the diversity of people who played the game. I’ve met individuals from all kinds of backgrounds and made so many friends that it’s kind of hard to imagine what life would be without Smash Bros. in it. When you look at the big picture, we have a really solid community. With any community, you’re going to have people who are divided over certain issues, but on the whole, when our energies are focused, there’s basically nothing that we can’t accomplish.
SRK: You’ve undoubtedly had some great times over the years thanks to Smash, but if you had to pick one favorite memory that you attribute to the game, what would that be?
Wes: My greatest memory that I attribute to the game is when my whole team went on this road trip to a tournament that Kashan “Liquid|Chillindude” KHan hosted years ago, back when he was just h2yl|Chillindude. That was the greatest moment I had, just being around my whole team.
Kubuu: I think I share my best memory with lots of people from the old school days of Smash, but there was one tournament in the MD/VA area called Game Over, which was held by one of the other long-standing Smash teams, H2YL. I was in college and I remember hopping in a car with Brian, or “BumbleBeeTuna” as he was known back then, and we drove from Rochester, NY all the way down to the MD/VA area in one of the coldest winters ever, just to go play in this tournament. It was the first time I really ever traveled to a tourney and it was my second time running into Deadly Alliance, prior to joining them. We all stayed at Azen’s house and it was probably one of the most memorable events in Smash history. The sheer Smash skill and knowledge present was insane. I also got to play against another Link main, SS4Ricky, and back then, there were only a handful of us!
SRK: Let’s switch gears for a moment: S.O.S. Gamers began back in 2010. What was it that inspired you to start this organization? And, since it began, what sort of notable projects has the organization undertaken?
Wes: What got me to partake in this organization is being around the same friends that I made through Smash forming the iconic team Deadly Alliance. I thought to myself, with all these talented people that I know, why not use the inspiration we have for gaming to help society, in addition to putting gaming in a positive light. One of the notable projects we did that inspired me to keep pushing this organization ran for about two years from 2010 to 2012. About once or twice per month, we entertained the elderly at the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. We would bring in the Wii Sports Resort games and play with them. To our surprise, some of the individuals who had bad memories would remember our names, what games they wanted to play, and even frequently ask the facility’s event coordinators when would we be back. Usually at nursing homes these individuals hardly get any visits from friends or family. It brought me joy that we were able to connect with them through video games and give them some companionship to look forward to.
Kubuu: We’re the generation that has grown up with video games since we were little kids, so gaming is such a huge part of our lives that once we got older, we realized that since it’s done so much for us, we have to pay it forward. So we decided that there has to be some way to use video games to help people better their lives in the same way that video games have bettered ours. In the beginning, we hosted fundraisers for other non-profits such as Susan G. Komen, where we raised over $2000 dollars for Breast Cancer Awareness. We threw food drives during the holiday season to donate food to City Harvest’s food bank. We regularly provide services for underprivileged kids with the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau at their outdoors events.
I think one of the best activities was helping the Falcons Lounge at Manchester Regional High School in New Jersey get Nintendo Wii goodies donated from Nintendo for their students to use. We showed up and had a really fun gaming session with the students and were able to leave them with games as well as memories. That’s the important stuff; showing people that they matter and that you care.
SRK: Growing up, did you have any activities or programs similar to those that your team provides that you attended on a regular basis?
Wes: Growing up I never had these types of activities, but I wish they had existed.
Kubuu: To be honest, I was probably too busy playing video games to notice! But when I was growing up, I really didn’t join any sports leagues. I was part of the Martial Arts club at Brooklyn Technical High School, which I enjoyed greatly. Most of the things I did after school involved hanging out with friends and playing games with them, but I most definitely would have jumped at the chance to join a league that used video games for competition. I’m certain my parents would have side-eyed me, but the equipment costs would have probably been the cost of a controller, so you can’t beat that.
SRK: S.O.S. Gamers focuses on the educational values that technology can bring to the table. Many such things are rather obvious, but what do you think that it is about video games specifically that make a project like this Youth Smash League have so much potential?
Wes: Our aim with this program in particular, is to teach kids team building skills, responsibility, respect, social skills, and better decision making skills in general.
Kubuu: Video games lend themselves well to a project like our Youth Smash League because of the ease of implementation plus the fact that the technology is so familiar to the youth. We can reach an audience who may be uninterested in, or simply not built for traditional league sports, and show them that they are indeed able to take something like video games, which people in their circles may refer to as an idle pastime, and turn it into something that can enrich their lives.
SRK: With all of the video game options out there that could also be used to bring together a group like this, what was it about Super Smash Bros. that ultimately made it the game of choice for the program?
Wes: The reason we picked Super Smash Bros. is that the game is growing, as well as the community. Almost everyone can relate to at least one character in roster, and love to either watch or play the game. Plus we grew up with the game and would love to see kids have the same enjoyment we had when we were younger.
Kubuu: There are lots of games that we could use and very well may use in the future. Over the years, we’ve found that Smash is just the most approachable game of its type, which lends itself very well to multiplayer engagement.
Taking Smash as an example, look at what’s involved in a Crew battle. You have multiple teams facing off against each other and within these teams you have players taking on roles from Captain to Anchor. Everyone needs to understand his/her role and their place in the team. Decisions have to be made on who goes up first based on the stages in play and characters being selected. So just with that alone, you have a very complex team dynamic. Now if we look at a game like Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, which has an eight-player setup, you now have two full teams of four engaged in play at the same time. Everyone has to know his/her role and the game plan and work as a team to succeed. Video games are simple in concept, but the applications of the skills learned are endless.
SRK: We noticed that in the promotional video for the Indiegogo project, the two of you are seated in front of a Super Smash Bros. Melee banner. Does this mean that the Youth Smash League will be focusing primarily on the Game Cube title? If so, what are some of the reasons behind that decision?
Wes: Unfortunately for Melee fans, at the moment we won’t be using that game for the program. We will be using the new installment of the series. Reason being is that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has more content that is geared towards a league/team setting, with things like 4v4 and the ability to create your own stages. These two features alone give us the green light for a league. Maybe in the future we will adopt Super Smash Bros. Melee into our league.
Kubuu: Hahaha, that poster was something I actually got my hands on from my college days. It was an old Toys “R” Us promo item that a good friend of mine passed my way. Our league will be focusing on the Wii U version, as it has built in options which make running a league like ours much easier, namely the 4v4 option. Trust me, if we had the funding, we’d explore as many games as we could, but for right now, we’re picking and choosing where we put our resources very carefully.
SRK: On your Indiegogo page, you mention that donations will be used to assist with acquiring various pieces of equipment as well as uniforms and prizes for participants. This isn’t something that had occurred to us as important, but now that you mention it, it makes a lot of sense—what is it, in your opinion, that makes having something so simple as a team uniform and prizes important to these youngsters?
Wes: We feel it’s good to give kids rewards for doing well. Everyone likes to be rewarded to some degree for doing well at something. Why not reward them, you know? It’s not every day that people are rewarded as such, even for the smallest of things. These things, in my opinion, make the world go ’round.
Kubuu: Our goal is to make this a legitimate league for the kids. We don’t want them to just go home and say, “Oh, they let us play video games today,” which is generally what happens when kids and video games are involved. People just let them play and call it a day. We want to create an experience for them around this game. Part of that will include instructional workshops and activities conducted to help them learn the essentials of teamwork and part of it will be them actually playing Smash.
The uniforms are important because they show that each one of them is a part of something bigger. When spectators watch them play, players know that they’re repping Team Blue, for example, so now they’re accountable for making their team look good. Looking over and seeing a group of people wearing the same uniform and colors as yourself immediately puts you in “team” mode and that’s a mindset that we want to instill in them. The prizes are a way of saying, “You put in the work to succeed, you get what you earned.” We know it’s not all about the prizes, but let’s take a look at our audience: these are youth who live in a predominantly underserved community, who may not be used to earning prizes for their accomplishments. Some people might ask, “So what?” but we believe that it’s important for them to know that if they apply themselves to succeed, it will come back to them in some way. As our project grows, we want our offerings to expand to where we can provide tools to help them both professionally and academically.
SRK: You mention that this will be a Smash league targeted at “youth,” which is a pretty broad term. Is there a specific age range that you’re looking to bring into the program?
Kubuu: Our current pilot will include ages 13-19 and we will more than likely expand that to skew younger once we’re able to secure additional funding to continue our league.
SRK: And for any of our readers who have skills that they might wish to volunteer to S.O.S. Gamers projects, how would they go about reaching your team in order to do so?
Kubuu: We’re always open to those who want to help! Anyone who wants to help out can contact us at SOS@SOSGamers.org. Just send us some info about yourself and how you believe you can take part. We’d love to hear from you all!
SRK: Do you have anything else that you would like to add?
Wes: On behalf of S.O.S. Gamers, we would like to thank everyone for their support on this project and we will continue to update our fans, donors and supporters as things progress. We also would like to thank Shoryuken for taking the time to help us spread the word.
Kubuu: I’m just a huge fan of people helping people, especially when video games are involved, so we’re hoping that we can get really great results from this initial pilot and grow it into something on a much larger scale. It’s 2015, I think something like this is long overdue!
If this project sounds like something that you would be interested in helping succeed, feel free to head over to the donation page to show your support. If you’d like to check out the promotional video for the Youth Smash League, we’ve embedded it below. For anything else S.O.S. Gamers-related, check out their official website, Facebook, and Twitter.
Sources: TheLegendarywes, Indiegogo, and Smash Boards, who brought this project to our attention in the first place.