First ever AAA State Champs in eSports Rocket League: Miles Burgess (Milez), Ivan Munoz-Castaneda (KidIvan), Adam Perry (Perry), Baker Bright (Alpha), and Nick Barton (Nade). Photos by Bryant Schools.
The Bryant High School eSports team has taken the state championship in the first year of Rocket League competition in Arkansas. The school found out in January that the state was forming school teams and that the season would start the very next month. Undeterred, a team formed and plowed through the season with an undefeated season record.
See the video below of the award ceremony, with more details. Photos by Bryant Schools
These athletes compete on video game screens for their schools. Bryant High School (BHS) created its inaugural teams for competitive gaming in January, in response to the Arkansas Activities Association sanction of eSports and its partnership with PlayVS eSports League.
With only four months as a team, they earned the first AAA eSports Championship in Rocket League. Rocket League is a game described as “soccer, but with rocket-powered cars.” BHS defeated Greenwood in the finals by winning the first four games in a best of seven series. The team finished with an 8-0 regular season record.
Games are broadcast on the live streaming platform for gamers, Twitch, where players are known by their screen names. Bryant’s Rocket League team included Miles Burgess (Milez), Ivan Munoz-Castaneda (KidIvan), Adam Perry (Perry), Baker Bright (Alpha), and Nick Barton (Nade). Live streams and recordings for all of the regular season and playoff matches are available at twitch.tv/bhs_esports.
The team, who refer to themselves as “The Founding Fathers,” spent hours practicing after school and competing against other schools in scrimmages and games. Working as a team involved learning each other’s playing styles and risk taking skills. Communication and cooperation were other key factors in becoming a championship team. Sean Foster, District Systems Administrator and game enthusiast, served as team coach. Brenda Qualls, Computer Science teacher, helped with recruiting and coaching.
Bryant also had gaming teams for Smite and League of Legends, which ended the season in the top 8.