The Winter Pool Tournament is the premier community event on E2. The excitement surrounding the tournament is palpable, with some matches garnering crowds upwards of 20 spectators. Dorm parents on E2 are supportive of the tournament and have been known to allow students to stay out past 10:30 if an official match is taking place. 

Chief Prefect, Erick Iraheta, supports the pool tournament despite not participating. He said, “The beginning of this month was really difficult, and I think having this pool tournament would really bring us together, and it has.” 

Defending champion of the inaugural fall tournament, Jackson Smedley, was knocked out of both the singles and doubles draws in the quarterfinals round. This leaves the path wide open for a new competitor to snatch his crown. Out of 24 entrants, only six players remain in the singles draw: Micah Frazier, Dereck Lively, Pat McKinley, Jimmy Qin, Ben Shaman, and Teacher LJ Scurfield.

Having an organized tournament builds hype and increases the pressure, E2 resident Quin Berger explained. “People play so often that it’s hard to brag about a certain game, but if you knock someone out of the tournament that’s sorta solidified for the rest of the year.”

The prize for winning the tournament is $15 to the singles winner and $5 each for the doubles champions (paid in Wawa gift cards). Despite winning the fall tournament, Jackson never claimed his prize. He said, “I didn’t wanna play in the tournament to win a Wawa gift card—that was never the intent. I just wanted to have fun with it, see how I would do.”

The finals round matches of both the singles and doubles draws are tentatively scheduled for Sunday evening, March 6th.