On Friday, September 16, 2022, Mr. Wynkoop won a match of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at this year’s first Super Smash Bros. Club meeting. The club hosts tournaments where two players go head to head in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a crossover fighting game for Nintendo Switch. While attending, Mr. Wynkoop wanted to give the game a shot and asked to be added to the tournament. Little did he know he would actually win a game.

“Years of practice that finally came to fruition,” Mr. Wynkoop states on his great victory. “It feels good.”

Having won the first round, Mr. Wynkoop moved on to play a second. Despite his valiant efforts, Mr. Wynkoop ended up losing this round, shouting “Donkey Kong, my boy!” as his fighter fell off the stage. The tournament continued on without Mr. Wynkoop, but he did spectate the other players. 

There are many people who are in Super Smash Bros. Club. The club’s creator, Jack Maske, says that it is a place where “you go and play Smash Bros.” As stated earlier, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a cartoon crossover fighting game. The game features many Nintendo characters like Mario, Link, Kirby, and Pikachu. It also has non-Nintendo characters like Mega Man, Pac-Man, and Steve from Minecraft. The game is highly competitive, but it is also easy to pick up for someone who has never played the game before. As shown by Mr. Wynkoop, you do not need to be an expert on the game to join the club—just a desire to play is all that is needed.

Super Smash Bros. Club may seem like an outlier amongst the other school clubs. Many clubs highlight particular aspects of the school like diversity, French, or the yearbook. Jack Maske was asked to shed some light on the process of creating the club.

“It just started when I was bored at 3 AM,” Maske responded. “I was like, ‘I wanna play Smash Bros., but I don’t have any friends to play with.’ So, I was like, ‘I will just force people to play with me.’”

He then emailed Mr. Wynkoop asking how to make a club. Following his instructions, Maske set out to find a teacher to host the club. He decided to ask Ms. Williams whom he “loves platonically as much as physically possible.” Ms. Williams spoke about her reaction to Maske’s plea. 

“I was kinda shocked because I don’t know anything about the game itself,” she explained. “But, I had Jack as a student, and he was really motivated to start the club on his own. So, I volunteered the use of my room and my TV and told him that if he took lead of the club I would willingly host it. And, it turns out that it’s pretty fun. However, I am still not very knowledgeable about the game, but I’m excited to keep learning and to watch everyone have fun.”

Super Smash Bros. Club meets every other Friday in Ms. Williams’s room. For a list of some of the other clubs offered at Penns Valley, click here (note: the list is outdated and may include clubs that are unavailable). When asked about what he would want to tell the people about his club, Jack Maske responded with “join.”