H-D/CAL esports team debuts with back-to-back wins

The Hampton-Dumont/CAL esports team is off to a solid start as they debut for the 2021-22 winter season.

Esports has seen a steady rise over the last several years, putting a spotlight on competitive video games and offering an outlet for students uninterested in traditional athletics. The Iowa High School Esports Association was established in 2019 and is continuing to grow, with more than three dozen schools participating in the current season.

Hampton-Dumont/CAL had planned to start their esports team last year, but that was delayed due to the pandemic.

This year though, the esports program is finally getting off the ground under the direction of Technology Coach Jeromy Keehn.

The school has 13 participants for their inaugural season, who come in for early morning practices at the middle school before their day starts.

"It's been great for them," said Keehn. "It kind of gives them an outlet for something to do."

Unlike traditional sports, the esports league doesn't revolve around a single video game. Instead, schools are given the option to play up to two games for each season of the school year. For this year's fall season, "Rainbow 6 Siege" and "Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate" were the competitive choices. As the winter season started, "Overwatch" and "Rocket League" became the games of choice.

Hampton-Dumont/CAL isn't participating in the "Overwatch" portion of the winter season, but is playing "Rocket League."

"Rocket League" is a popular free-to-play game that can be described as something similar to playing soccer with RC cars. Two teams of three players face off on the virtual field for a five minute game where the team that scores the most goals wins.

Rather than keeping score by total points, matches are decided by a best-of-five series of games. The first team to win three games wins the match.

On Tuesday, December 7, the Bulldogs JV team participated in the school's first esports match, facing off against East Union where they won 3-2.

"That was great for the first ever match," said Keehn.

The varsity team likewise got their first victory on the following Thursday, defeating Newman Catholic in a 3-2 series.

With the program still in its infancy, there hasn't yet been time for the team to develop or practice specific plays. The coaching portion of the season is still largely under development.

"We really haven't gotten into the strategy," said Keehn. "It's really just kinda them playing together."

As the season goes on, and the team gets more experience playing with each other, they'll begin to develop strategies and breakdown the "Rocket League" metagame.

"As we move on and have more video, then we'll do some analyzing to see how to fix our mistakes," said Keehn.

Some players are already well versed in the game.

Zayden Erdman, a H-D/CAL senior, has been playing "Rocket League" for two years, including participating in the competitive World Open.

"When I heard that esports was coming to H-D I wanted to join in the opportunity," said Erdman. "I'm glad that they got a program going and that we all have an opportunity to play."

Though the players are all playing from the school's dedicated gaming laptops that doesn't mean spectators aren't able to watch the matches. Keehn follows the "Rocket League" action on his own computer in spectator mode, which is broadcast on a large monitor in the gaming room where visitors can watch the games. At the same time, Hampton-Dumont/CAL has created their own channel on Twitch.tv. By going to www.twitch.tv/hdcalesports viewers can watch and support the Bulldogs from their own computer or mobile device.

The winter season will have eight weeks of games, followed by three weeks of playoffs for the championship title.

Right now, "Rocket League" is game of the moment for the Bulldogs. For the upcoming spring season, the team will shift over to "Smite" and possibly "Mark Kart 8: Deluxe," depending on if the program can acquire some Nintendo Switch consoles.