July 1983; 41 years ago (1983-07) Ottumwa, Iowa, United States
The U.S. National Video Game Team (USNVGT) was an American esports team in the early 1980s. It was founded in July 1983 in Ottumwa, Iowa, United States by Walter Day and Jim Riley as part of the Electronic Circus tour, with Steve Sanders as the first captain. After the Circus folded, Day re-established the team with himself as the captain, taking the team on a bus tour. The team challenged the players of arcades across the country and attempted to challenge other countries through visits to foreign embassies. In the years that followed the team ran numerous competitive contests.
History
January 14, 1984: Working with the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard, the USNVGT conducted the 1984 Coronation Day to crown the 1983 players, manufacturers, and magazines of the past year.
February 12, 1984: The U.S. National Video Game Team attends the February 1984 AMOA Expo in New Orleans, beginning a long tradition of reviewing new games for the video game industry.[1][non-primary source needed]
February 10–12, 1984: Canada-USA Video Game Team Conference is organized by USNVGT.[2][non-primary source needed]
April 8, 1986: The U.S. National Video Game Team is authorized by the Guinness Book of World Records to organize contests.[4][non-primary source needed]
April 1, 1987: U.S. National Video Game Team Conducts 1987 Video Game Masters Tournament for Guinness.[9][non-primary source needed]
July 12, 1987; The U.S. National Video Game Team organizes the 1987 Video Game Masters Tournament for Guinness Record Book.[10][non-primary source needed]
1991–1994: Every month Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), published a full-page high-score table titled "The U.S. National Video Game Team's International Scoreboard".[11][12][13][non-primary source needed]
Mark Hoff outside the original Twin Galaxies arcade location in Ottumwa, Iowa in 2014
Walter Day and his Business Partner from the early 1980s
