A player on the Riverhawks Esports team runs a service that streams esports events like tournaments on YouTube and Twitch.

Second-year media production student Kyle Lynch created KMLTournaments while he was a 15-year-old student at Southern High School in 2020.

“My main inspiration was to entertain,” Lynch said. “I feel like through this streaming company, I’ve been able to do as such.”

One of the main challenges he faced was getting his foot in the door of the game broadcasting industry while he was so young, Lynch, who plays Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Esports team, said.

“It [was] sort of hard to sort of find my place in the community and in the industry,” Lynch said. “[It’s] been dominated by those well over a decade older than me for such a long time.”

Lynch said watching Smash Bros. tournaments on the streaming platform VGBootCamp inspired him to create his own service.

“That’s probably one of my favorite games … because it’s such a diverse game. There’s over 90 characters you can play,” Lynch said.

In addition to streaming tournaments, Lynch hosts his own. He organizes self-funded fighting game events, which primarily focus on Smash Bros., and he h as branched out to cover the Rivals of Aether II and Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero.

Lynch’s streaming service makes money from ads on YouTube and Twitch, and from gigs with companies like VGBootCamp.

Conway Johnson, head coach of the AACC team, said Lynch is a “really cool guy” who has a positive impact on the Esports team.

“It’s great to have someone around who is also, like, esports savvy,” Johnson said. “It’s just been great … having him on board.”