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Danville, Pa. — An athlete walks out and takes the field, fans cheer, teammates check-in, and, after taking a seat in a highly specialized gaming chair, the competitor picks up a controller and gets ready to compete.
CSEL League Game 5/5/22 - Southern Columbia at Danville (4GD)
Music: https://www.bensound.com
Game: https://www.rocketleague.com
4GD eSports Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4sYZR8AkSt_hkUVc4b5_6DCqU8-oBWcO
4GD eSports Website: https://hsweb.danville.k12.pa.us/4gd/4GD.html
This is the new phase of high school athletics that are taking the area by a quiet storm of quick-twitch reactions and stylized flying cars. Danville is currently in the middle of an experimental season of Esports that includes Warrior Run, Southern Columbia, Montgomery, and Shamokin.
“It truly is for the kids,” Danville coach Jeff Ryan said. “Our group never played together before. Now, you can see them working together and getting a feel for each other. The same fundamentals as tradition sports exists in Esports. The potential is huge.”
This is the new wave of sports washing over the area. It’s new and something traditional sports fans might need some introduction to before it takes off.
For beginners, the only game being played is Rocket League. It is best described as soccer with rocket powered cars. Despite the futuristic feel of the game and delivery, it actually helps develop several skills required in more traditional sports.
“It unbelievable the amount of communication it takes to plays threes in Rocket League,” Ryan said. “Positioning and rotations, it’s all traditional sports stuff. That was the reason why we picked Rocket League.”
All matches are streamed on Danville’s YouTube page. Ryan keeps track of all the stats. It really helps the sport take on a feel of being sanctioned.
“It checked all the boxes for what we wanted,” Ryan said. “Seeing it all in motion is wonderful. We keep stats just as a traditional team would. Being in there with them and hearing them communicate, it’s rare how something like this all fits together.”
Ryan provides coaching through social media and organized practices. The team grows through its ability to communicate and build on its own.
Danville showed its growth early in the season against Southern Columbia when the Ironmen ran off three consecutive games to end the five-game series early.
The improvement stems from a preseason match in which the Ironmen were defeated soundly by the Tigers. At the time, Danville was still attempting to finalize its trio of players.
The following match was a completely different matter as Evan Klinger scored goals early and often to establish Danville immediately.
Klinger achieved one of the newest of new school accomplishments this year when he set a school record in the 1600 before Rocket League practice. Klinger has been a big contributor on the team.
“To look back now months later and see it come out this well is pretty phenomenal,” Ryan said. “We didn’t know what to expect six months ago.”
Danville has jumped out as the clear favorite in the five-team league, but that title will be challenged as more and more schools look to send teams into the fold. Ryan said next year they will add five more teams and are open to the continued growth of the sport in the area.
“It opens up to everyone,” Ryan said. “I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am. It’s truly good for kids.”
Rocket League was an easy choice for Ryan as they discussed possible games.
Rocket League is a cross platform game that can be played on multiple consoles along with PCs. The game is cheap and widely available for players to purchase digitally, online, or in any store that sells video games.
It’s basically rocket propelled vehicles with a giant soccer ball and two goals. The game plays fast and can be picked up quickly by novice players.
It can also function as gender neutral and includes children in any grades, skill levels, and education level. It requires all the teammates to play together for the common good.
“You don’t need high-end equipment to run rocket league,” Ryan said. “They game can be played on a several different platforms.”
Once Ryan got approval, he contacted other schools who used a similar formula to build their teams.
For Rocket League players interested in starting a league at their school, they should get a group of ten players together. The next steps would be finding a coach and speaking with school officials.
“I’m hoping next year we have 10 or 12 teams in our league,” Ryan said. “We started earlier than everybody and tested it. We split up into groups and practice. We initially ran scrimmages with the teams, but now we have established teams and practice together. They go against better competition than themselves.”
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