Guest article by Andrés Melo. Puedes leer este artículo en español aquí.
Latin America grew as a rising force in Smash. During 2015, communities held big tournaments all over the continent, creating stronger bonds between regions and boosting the competitive nature of the scene. Players traveled to major events such as EVO and G3, and made good impressions by spreading the word about their regions. Figureheads wrote articles that showcased players, tournaments and results, letting the world know about the existence and growth of our continent.
In 2016, Latin America has joined forces in order to grow the region into the next level.
ASTRA is born with the purpose of being the first international, high quality tournament in South America, organized by Powershield and Smash LATAM as a community effort. The whole continent is committed to make this dream come true: a tournament where all the countries meet and compete to see who is the best.
The event will be held August 26-28 in Barranquilla, a tropical city in the coast of Colombia close to beaches, tourist spots, bars, discos, and restaurants. The 3 day event will be held in a beautiful high capacity venue, where a special effects and logistics company will make sure the atmosphere is great.
The Venue
While Powershield takes care of the organization, logistics, and design of the event, Smash LATAM representatives from each country are hosting tournaments in order to raise funds to bring their top players. The goal is to have at least five representatives from each country. However, fundraising is going a little slow since most of our economies don’t allow us to travel internationally and local support is low. This means that even though some funds are collected internally, some of our communities will need a miracle to bring their top five to the event. We will be opening up donations in a few weeks for those interested in helping us reach our goal.
We know it takes a great amount dedication and faith to grow a scene, but we’re up to the challenge! We hope to travel and send our best players to compete in the US/Europe/Japan more often after taking this first step. This is our chance to grow, our chance to get motivated, and a chance for the community to get the momentum it needs. Watching and supporting this tournament will have a positive impact in the world of Smash, and widen the community beyond borders.
We trust in Astra 2016.
Relevant links:
Contact us: info@powershield.com.co
This is going to be so awesome! I hope I can go and make my country, El Salvador, proud
I hope my country will send our warriors to represent El Salvador in the big stage, All the smash LATAM TOs are giving the very best, and I’m proud of this.
Excellent article!!
Good luck! Can’t wait to tune in.
This looks amazing, this venue is craaaazyyyyyy. I definitely won’t be able to go, but I hope that it’s successful!
[…] stated in our previous article,(http://www.meleeitonme.com/astra-the-first-south-american-international-tournament/) ASTRA is the first South American major where the Latin countries will join together. Astra’s […]