Next Level E-Sports is an organization based in the Houston, Texas area who are very passionate about eSports and gaming in general. I was able to attend their Super Smash Bros. tournament at the Eureka Heights Brewery, where some of the top Smash Bros. competitors in the area duke it out for three hundred dollars. Next Level also had giveaways throughout the tournament, handing out shirts, gaming mats, mice, keyboards, head sets, and more!
Currently, they are developing a venue in the mid town area where they will have more tournaments as well as casual playtime for anyone to come and play. I was able to get an interview with one of the founders of Next Level E-Sports, Njsani Courtney, to tell us more about the organization.
To celebrate the Smash Brothers community, Next Level even brought out some excellent Samus and Zero Suit Samus cosplayers. I spoke with Jazlyn Skyy about her craft while they were taking a break from seeing fans so Xephyr Cosplay could deconstruct his Samus suit to cool off.
I think that Houston could be a perfect place for an eSports hub, and Next Level has seen the same vision that I’ve had since I was a kid: A common place for the gaming and nerd community to go hang out and have face-to-face fun and friendly competition. Check out Next Level’s Facebook page to see more events they have coming up, including a Street Fighter V tournament and their grand opening this fall.
