Norfolk LAN party brings connection to the competition

NORFOLK, Neb— Going on six years now the Norfolk LAN party is once again bringing gamers together, to show it’s not all about competition but about connection.

In the old Alco building on Norfolk Avenue over a 100 players of all ages filled the glowing desks, coming by themselves, with friends, and even family.

One player said the event is something his family looks forward to, with his kids by his side the friendships and connections don’t stop when the computer turns off.

“So they meet new friends here in town and then they'll be sitting at home and they'll be saying, I'm playing with this kid that we met at the LAN party. So it's cool for them to meet new kids from different schools and stuff like that too,” participant Kevin Kingham said.

The organizers say that’s exactly the impact they hope to have, bringing people out of the house to meet people, some they might have only know by their username.

That’s what happened with a younger gamer, who has been playing online with someone he finally met in person on Friday.

I met this guy over here, Grady and Dave, and I met him online. I met him through our friends when I met him in person yesterday, just yesterday, so it was pretty cool to see him come out,” participant Jonathon Castro said. 

Even though the party is a tournament with high end prizes to win, the friendships and connections people make come out on top.