EL CENTRO — The Central Spartans Esports Club team is in the midst of their first season competing in the CIF-sanctioned Rocket League Tournament, hosted by the North American Scholastic Esports Federation and Valorant, which is part of the High School Esports League.
The Spartans’ Rocket League team played in Rocket Leagues’ 64-team double-elimination tournament earlier this fall. They are guaranteed a Top 16 finish after winning three of the four matches played.
“For this being our first-ever season, I am proud of the results,” said Esports Club Manager Dylan Morgan.
Morgan said students practice on their own but he was present “to join the voice call during match time to record their matches, which they later study.”
“Since the beginning, they have been excited for the chance to represent Central in their favorite video games,” Morgan said.
The game of Rocket League is a video game where players control virtual cars, trucks, hotrods, vans and the like as their playable characters in a soccer arena or stadium, where the cars bump and hit the virtual soccer ball towards their opponents goal, trying to score in a fast-paced game, according to a local anonymous gamer. The game is called “Rocket” League as players can collect power-boosts to make their cars speed up via rocket boots, on-ground or in-air, in the game, he said.
“Rocket League has been a mainstay in the Esports community since its debut in 2015,” according to a Peach Belt Conference (Esports) press release. “The game is soccer, but with rocket-powered cars. Two teams of three players each battle in a five-minute set,” it reads.
“Valorant” is a “5v5 multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) where one team attacks and the other defends,” according to digitaltrends.com. “The attacking team’s goal is to plant a bomb (called a “spike”) and have it detonate, while the defending team tries to avoid that. Regardless of whether the spike is planted or not, if a squad is wiped out before any other victory condition is met, the opposing squad will win.”
Currently, Central’s Rocket League team has only four players: sophomore Joedi Aguilar, freshman Andres Salazar, freshmen Christopher Curiel, and sophomore Ryder Wilkmson.
“I have been playing (video) games for most of my life and I am very competitive,” Aguilar said, “so competing at the next level is what motivated me to join the team.”
“The team has been doing pretty well,” Aguilar said. “We are trying to make it to the championship but overall it has been a lot of fun.”
In Rocket League, the Central Esports team won their first two matches 3-0, but fell short 2-3 to the Franklin Panthers in Round 3 of the tournament. After the loss, the Spartans moved to the Lower Round 4 bracket, where they defeated Hilmar High School 3-0.
The twelfth-seeded Spartans will take on Casa Grande High School in the Lower Round 5 match, where the winner will solidify a Top 12 finish.
Central’s Valorant Team includes senior Hidai Coronel, sophomore Nicolas Arviza, and freshman Joshua Caloca, Aguilar, Salazar, and Curiel.
“It is very cool that there is an Esports team,” Coronel said. “The people, playing and just the experience has been great.”
The Valorant team had a tough start to the season after losing their first two matches, but the Spartans responded by winning their next five matches.
“Winning five matches in a row during our first ever season was a big highlight,” Morgan said, “especially, when we have players who made ‘Ace’ plays, which means that one player took down the entire enemy team single-handedly.”
The Spartan Valorant team earned an eleven-seed ranking in the “Redemption Road” Playoff Tournament. They will face the 22-seeded Quartz Hill High School in Round 1 of the tournament.
“The season is going well,” Caloca said. “Seeing [Salazar] get an Ace this season was cool. Our team is really good so it is always fun.”
“We started working out as time progressed,” Salazar said. “We have been practicing a little bit, and now when the games start we know each others’ playing style, which helps.”
Today, Nov. 28, the Spartans’ Valorant team will take on Quartz Hill High School in the Western Conference “Redemption Road” Playoffs.
The Spartans’ Rocket League team will take on Casa Grande High School in the Lower Round 5 match of the tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 4 p.m.
IVP Editor Roman Flores contributed to this article.
