LOCATION — Ferris State University will host the Mike “Swinny” Hall Memorial Tournament on Jan. 31 to honor the life of a late student-athlete. The fundraising event commemorates Hall, a former Bulldog esports competitor who passed away last year.
The tournament serves as a celebration of Hall’s passion for gaming and the community he helped establish in Big Rapids. Organizers have set up a GoFundMe webpage to facilitate donations during the fundraiser.
The event begins at 9 a.m. in the Esports Arena located on the first floor of the Center for Virtual Learning at 1030 Campus Drive. The competition will feature an eight-team Valorant tournament and a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate singles tournament. Individuals who cannot attend the fundraiser in person may watch the event through the Ferris State Esports program’s online livestream.
Students from Hall’s high school alma mater, Mona Shores, will also participate in the tournament alongside university students. Justin Summe, the Esports teams coordinator at Ferris State, said the event offers a chance to celebrate Hall’s life through the community he cared for. Summe described Hall as a person who enthusiastically helped others and shared his knowledge without reservation.
“Mike was someone who consistently represented the best qualities of our community, hard-working, passionate, generous, kind and unapologetically goofy,” Summe said. “His presence is deeply missed and his impact on the Ferris esports program will always be felt.”
Summe noted that the tournament is specifically designed to highlight the environments where Hall spent his time. “This tournament is about honoring Mike through the community he helped build here in Big Rapids and for the spaces that he loved of competition and production,” Summe said. “He continues to bring us closer to each other every day and we hope that this tournament will be a worthy way to honor his impact on us all.”