Four students at West Ottawa just took home a championship — in esports

HOLLAND TWP. — A team of students from West Ottawa recently won an esports championship, besting schools throughout the eastern United States in a Rocket League Tournament.

The team — Parker Cornell, Da’Marian Strong, Emilio Perez and Henry Rinehart — part of an esports club at Harbor Lights Middle School, took home first place in their conference, comprising 150 schools.

Rocket League is a video game — a “high-powered hybrid of arcade-style soccer and vehicular mayhem,” according to the game’s website. Players control rocket-powered vehicles and attempt to score goals. 

After a strong regular season, West Ottawa qualified for a 24-team playoff tournament bracket. They came out victorious.

“We all communicated with each other very well, everyone played their part really well and we all did really good,” Cornell said. “At the end, we came back, went to overtime, then scored an overtime goal and won. Everyone jumped up, we all celebrated, it was really cool.”

Students said playing in a tournament against schools from around the country was a little stressful, but exciting.

“Once we got toward the end, the last game, I was super hyped, a little nervous,” Strong said. “Then it was excitement, a relief from being nervous, happy. I love helping my teammates out to win the game.” 

The club, in its third year, has around 25-30 members. Seeva Hugmeyer, a teacher, serves as coach. Students compete in teams of four and meet after school to practice and play matches online against other schools. 

Prior to the tournament, the team played six regular season matches. Only the top 24 teams qualified for the tournament, with West Ottawa named the second ranked squad.

“I’m really proud of them," Hugmeyer said. "They did such great work."

The school has piloted an elective esports class this semester, said Harbor Lights Principal Dave Stefanich. The class focuses more on studying games and an introduction to the concept of esports, while the club gives students a place to play.

“There’s a lot of common core English standards in there. They do a lot of research, a lot of writing,” Stefanich said of the class. “It’s been pretty good, pretty successful so far. Overall, both the elective class and the team, it really does pull in a different group of students to get involved in a different way.”

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Players on the winning team said they’ve enjoyed the experience. For some, it was their first time joining an extracurricular.

“I’ve never done anything like that before, I’ve never joined a club or anything,” Cornell said. “I feel like more people should try and learn games or try and do stuff they think would be fun. If you don’t do it, then you’ll never know.”

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.