Video league sponsors tournament

By VIRGINIA ROSS SHANK

As a cornerback for Youngstown State University, Jarvis Richards has tackled numerous challenges on the football field at Stambaugh Stadium.

But Saturday, Richards got his game-face on for a different kind of challenge. After picking his team and his playbook, the 22-year-old, of Daytona Beach, Fla. set his sights on scoring the top prize for his efforts during the 2009 Madden Tournament video game event at Eastwood Mall in Niles.

The tournament, sponsored by the Virginia-based company, Video Athletic League, was the initial challenge in a series of gaming events to hit the area this summer.

“It’s a chance for people, especially young people, to put their gaming skills to the test and see how far they can get in a tournament,” explained Jerry McKinney, president of the local franchise sponsoring Saturday’s tournament. “This was the promo event to get things started, but we plan to have more events in the area that young people can get involved with and win prizes for their efforts.”

The organization has scheduled another gaming event at the Eastwood Expo Center in Niles July 25-26 that will feature the game Call of Duty 4. The group also will be in Virginia on July 11-12 and in Columbus on July 18-19. McKinney said he expects the company to sponsor similar tournaments at the local Expo Center every six weeks.

Although the video games vary from site to site and date to date, the focus on Saturday was the popular Madden NFL football video game. The game, developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon for EA Sports, is named after Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden. Gamers pick their teams and playbooks and play football.

Each player is allowed to play with any one of the current 32 NFL teams during the tournament. Quarter lengths are three minutes, except for the championship game at the end of the tournament, which has seven-minute quarters.

“I play Madden a lot,” said player Matt DiMuzio, 18, of Poland. “I usually play four or five hours a day. Some people play it more than that. It’s pretty popular. Mostly everyone I know plays. I just wanted to see how well I would do here at this tournament. I’ve never competed in a tournament before. It would be nice to win.”

Gamers started registering at 8 a.m. Saturday, with the competition getting under way around 10 a.m. Like Richards, DiMuzio made it through round one unscathed, but found himself waiting as organizers delayed the competition to allow more people to register. The tournament was open to players 12 and older. Players between age 12 and 18 were required to have parental consent to participate.

“I think as the word gets out, we’ll see more and more people here,” McKinney said. “This was our first event, but I think it’s something that will really take off.”

Early in the day Saturday, about 75 participants made their way to the mall’s Center Court to compete. With each round, winning gamers were matched with a new opponent for the next round. Each gamer paid a $25 entry fee, and organizers were prepared to accommodate 868 players.

Gamers put their skills to the test to snag first-, second- and third-place honors. Winners received $1,500 for the top spot, a 36-inch plasma TV for second place and a $200 Eastwood Mall gift card for third place.

“It would be nice to win,” said Nick Romea, 18, of Poland, who admitted the pastime can be addicting. “Most people put a lot of time into it, and you can get pretty good at it. It’s hard to put it down.

“But it’s different when you come to something like this and play against people who you don’t know. Then you get to see how good you really are,” he continued. “That’s completely different than playing at home or with the same people all the time. It’s a different game then.”

Saturday’s winners of the 2009 Madden Tournament at Eastwood Mall, Niles:

1st Place: Elliott Moody, 21, of Youngstown, winner of $1,500.

2nd Place: Randy Burnes, 27, of Newton Falls, winner of a 32-inch plasma TV.

3rd Place: Kyree Flowers, 17, of Warren, and Mark Woodson, 22, of Cleveland, each winners of a $200 Eastwood Mall gift card.

Source: Video Athletic League