![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Harker’s first Clash Royale Tournament kicked off with six opening rounds on Wednesday, organized by ASB Campus Life Committee. The tournament takes place over three separate long lunches in a single-elimination format, with contestants advancing each round until a final winner is determined.
Committee members Samaara Patil (11) and Dyuthi Vallamsetty (10) oversaw the proceedings of each match, which were decided through the Triple Draft game mode. Clash Royale is a mobile player-versus-player tower defense game where two competitors compose an eight-card deck to take down each others’ defense towers in three minutes. If no tower falls, then the match continues for another two minutes, and automatically ends when a tower is taken. Twenty participants signed up to compete for the final prize of a Clash Royale-themed crown and t-shirt.
“I decided to sign up for the tournament because I’m a huge supporter of school spirit, and I wanted to support Student Council’s efforts in the Clash Royale tournament,” participant Ameya Choudhary (10) said. “I love the intensity of Clash Royale and the spirit of the game, so I just wanted to play a fun game against fun people.”
In the first match, third seed Justin Hu (10) faced 10th seed Gary Xu (10). In the opening minute, neither player could inflict significant damage, as Gary used his Royal Ghost’s splash damage to counter Justin’s Goblin Drill attacks. However, after elixir production doubled at the two-minute mark, Gary quickly collapsed Justin’s defense with unexpected Electro Giant zaps paired with the high-damage Mini P.E.K.K.A robot. Gary took down Justin’s left tower and won the game, prompting applause from the audience.
“I thought the enthusiasm with which they reacted to the games being played was really refreshing,” Samaara said. “I haven’t seen grades come together in a really long time for something they care about, but also not taking it too seriously. There were a lot of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ and people were very engaged.”
Second seed Alejandro Cheline (12) battled 19th seed Ameya in the second match. Alejandro drafted his deck with multiple sources of attack, all best countered by Ameya’s arrows. Thus, when Ameya used up his arrows and no longer had them in his hand, Alejandro capitalized on offense with his Goblin Barrel, and Ameya failed to defend. Alejandro brought Ameya’s tower down to 500 HP within the first minute of the game. Ameya repeatedly tried to break through to Alejandro’s towers by attacking with a swarm of Royal Hogs, but Alejandro secured his defense using his Goblin Cage.
With Ameya unable to inflict damage, Alejandro taunted him by constantly emoting with the sobbing goblin emoji and wasting his fireball spell on Ameya’s king tower, showing off his victory in the final minute of the game.
In the third game, 18th seed Jordan Sun (9) was slated to face top seed Leo Zhang (11), but Leo failed to show. Ernie Singh (9) therefore volunteered from the audience and took Leo’s spot. Jordan jumped out to an early lead by whittling down Ernie’s tower through constant Hog Rider attacks. Ernie employed heavy cards like the Electro Giant and Bowler, but Jordan’s defense, anchored by the Inferno Tower, shredded Ernie’s attacks. For another three minutes, neither player hit the opposing towers.
With just 10 seconds left in the game, Jordan held a 1,000 HP lead on Ernie. Jordan stonewalled Ernie’s final push, but Ernie’s Dart Goblin slipped outside the range of Jordan’s Inferno Tower and dealt 1,100 damage to Jordan’s tower in the final seconds, completing Ernie’s comeback victory.
Sixth seed Aman Chandra (12) faced 13th seed Aden Liu (10) in the fourth match. Egged on by the spectators’ calls to do so, Aden placed a Golem for his first play. In response, Aman quickly built a push consisting of a Dark Prince and Minions, taking out half of Aden’s tower. Aden continually led attacks with Golem, but Aman defended using swarm cards like Guards and Minions. With his leftover defense troops, Aman counterattacked and took Aden’s tower with one minute left, sealing the game.
“The whole audience made me a little nervous when I was playing,” Aman said. “Especially when there’s people calling you out for making certain plays and telling the other person what to do, it was pretty strange. There were people heckling me and heckling Aden, so it was a bit nerve-wracking.”
In the final round, eighth seed Viraaj Burli (9) defeated 20th seed Sid Hosakere (9), Viraaj having 10,200 trophies compared to Sid’s 4,000. Sid attempted to defend against Viraaj’s Mega Knight with a Skeleton Army, but the Mega Knight locked on to Sid’s tower and destroyed it. Although the spectators tried to coach Sid through the game by shouting out plays, he was unable to touch Viraaj’s tower with his troops, and Viraaj triumphed.
“Having spectators watching is nerve-wracking, so it may have affected some of their picks,” spectator and future competitor Edmund Wang (10) said. “But I think having spectators is a net positive because more people can watch the games and having a lot of spectators really helps players lock in.”
The next six matches will be played today at lunch.
