ROCHESTER, Mich. – Announced on Twitter on June 26, Oakland Golden Grizzlies standout Austin "Spectral" Kujawa was named the 2021-22 Super Smash Bros. Player of the Year by the National Association of Esports Coaches & Directors (NAECAD).
A 2019 graduate of Troy Athens, Kujawa is now in his senior year at Oakland and is majoring in Communications with a double minor in Film and Leadership.
It is fitting that Leadership is one of Kujawa's minors, as it was also part of the criteria for the National Player of the Year Award, along with your in-game performance and how well you work as part of a team.
A crossover fighting game series first published by Nintendo in 1999, Super Smash Bros. – commonly referred to as just Smash – is one of the most popular competitive games of all-time and professional tournaments have been organized for over 20 years.
The Smash events the Golden Grizzlies compete in utilize a double-elimination format and consist of each participating school entering a four-member team, something Kujawa was quick to highlight when discussing receiving this recognition.
"It sounds cheesy to say, but my team helped me get this," he said. "This is for the whole team; this is not just me. Not even just the Smash team – Oakland as a whole – I wouldn't be where I am in college without Coach (Carl) Leone as a coach. He's someone we can go to as a figure, as a coach figure, to make sure we're doing what we need to be doing in the game, outside the game, he's down to talk to us about pretty much anything. One of, if not the best, mentor I've ever had."
Launched for the 2020-21 academic year, Leone has been the Golden Grizzlies' Esports head coach since the inception of the program and Kujawa is one of a handful of students still around to have been with him the entire time.
Having seen the operation grow from brand new to one of the Midwest's best at the collegiate level, Kujawa appreciates how the University has embraced Esports from the beginning and treated him and his teammates just like the rest of Oakland's athletic programs.
"I tell this to every person that's worried about getting into Esports and whatnot – I really like to tell this to people – if you're afraid of Esports being lesser than any other sport because there is that stigma – we're not an athletic sport, we don't run – at Oakland, and this is speaking as someone who has been here since Day 1, I've never felt lesser or less important than any other sport," Kujawa shared.
"They take Esports as seriously as any other sport. I like to tell that to people because it's something to be proud of. We've got these varsity jackets and we wear them with as much pride as the other sports."
Oakland's Esports program utizilies the Grizz Den for their practice and competitions, a state-of-the-art facility featuring 24 personal computers and two large monitors in the basement of the Oakland Center on-campus.
This facility is not limited to just the Esports program, either, any interested Oakland student can use the Grizz Den during hours they do not have a scheduled class.
Competing in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Starleague, Kujawa and his Oakland Smash teammates wrapped up their fall regular season with a 2-0 victory over the Central Michigan Chippewas on Thursday, October 20.
Tallying a 5-2 record, they qualified for the NACE Starleague Playoffs and will face the Michigan Tech Huskies in an East 1 Conference Semifinal on Thursday, October 27 at 7 p.m.
A League of Legends star himself during his time with the Eagles at Robert Morris University Illinois, Leone has been instrumental in taking the Golden Grizzlies' Esports program to where it is today.
In addition to pushing for the completion of the Grizz Den, giving Oakland a tremendous on-campus competition space, Leone has seen the size of the program more than double in its young history. Beginning with 15 members in Year 1, there were 27 in 2021-22 and now 32 this school year. The goal is to reach 45 in 2023-24.
Scholarship opportunities are available for interested Esports student-athletes and further information is available both on their team webpage here and on Twitter @OaklandEsports.
