New Esports program in full swing at NR-S

New Rockford-Sheyenne School's newest sporting team Esports, is off to a stellar start. Currently, there are 13 students in grades 8-12 competing weekly in an online game called Rocket League.

What is Rocket League? Think of soccer with vehicles. Students play in teams of three. Each player has their own vehicle. The goal is to get the giant ball into your goal, while keeping your opponents' three vehicles from stealing the ball and scoring in their goal. Just like soccer. There are 15 schools in N.D. participating in the Central Region of Rocket League. The platform and tournament play is managed by PlayVS. New Rockford-Sheyenne plays schools from Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota; any participating schools in the Central Standard Time Zone.

With all the COVID-19 restrictions that are in place surrounding sporting games, these new Esports teams have been able to continue, uninterrupted, as the students play at home using their own internet connection. Team members can log into the game via their own computer, Xbox or PlayStation. Covid-19 grant money purchased 10 gaming laptops for students without systems.

This season, New Rockford-Sheyenne School has 13 teens, playing on four teams. As with all sanctioned school sports, academic eligibility and attendance at practice are necessary to play in the weekly tournament. Coach/Gamer Mr. Eichelberger has brought his gaming knowledge and passion for the sport, not to mention the hours of organization and coordination to make this year a success. "I feel Esports gives us an opportunity to reach everyone. They get to work on their communication skills, emotion control, and ALL kids can play. Kids are gaming at home anyway, why not together on a team?"

This season we have two teams holding a ranking of 20th out of 433 teams. Alex Harrison, Stephen Merrick and Wyatt Dockter,'s team, Phantoms, are undefeated 2-0. Team Sentinels is comprised of Ashton Martin, Jeremy Martin, and Thomas Glenn. They are also undefeated at 2-0. Taylor Anderson, Haydon Meier, and Kyria Dockter are Controlled Chaos, and finally The Geeks, whose members are Jacob Louters, Lucas Laducer and Hunter Genre, are both currently 0-2. Brandyn Abell is the team substitute. Games are every Thursday at 4:00p.m.

In the coming weeks, watch the Transcript for more on this new sport at NR-S. We'll have photos of the players and updates on how they're faring in their weekly games.