The Rocket League esports team is in its first season as variety at Michigan State, becoming the third sport alongside Valorant and Super Smash Bros Ultimate. All MSU esports teams are a part of the Big Esports Conference, also known as the BEC, and The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE).
“I know it’s new here at the school, and I know it’s going to take some time for folks to find it, but I'm hoping that we just keep growing, developing, and achieving, hopefully making it easy for people to get behind us,” said MSU Rocket League Head Coach Jimmy Jordan.
Rocket League is a multiplayer video game where gamers play soccer but with cars. The varsity esports Rocket League team at MSU has a green and a white team. Each consists of three starters and one substitute.
Jordan has a lot of experience. He has been coaching Rocket League for the last six years and explains that coaching an esports team is very different.
“Esports coaching is peculiar; there is no handbook,” said Jordan. “The stance I like to take is that most of these guys have gotten to where they are before the varsity team through their own will and determination; most of them have never had a coach before for Rocket League or esports before getting to the varsity level.”
One of the team members is freshman Drew Bultman, who started playing Rocket League at Rockford (Ill.)High School.
“They {Rockford} started the program my sophomore year, then I got offered a scholarship halfway through my senior year, so now I’m playing here.
The road for Will Lewis, a senior from Grand Rapids, to the varsity team differed from that of Bultman.
"I actually wasn't really big into esports coming here my freshman year," said Lewis. "I didn't have a computer; I just had my roommate's PlayStation. But then, at the end of my freshman year, when we got sent home for COVID-19, I ended up getting a computer while I was at home, and I wanted to stay involved. So, I found the Rocket League Discord and the Rocket League Club and was really into them. You know, like when you're at home, you're not on campus. There's not a lot you can do. But I found that esports was still very alive. And so I got really into that and eventually became the president of the Rocket League club."
Bultman said being on the team has helped him build connections.
“I’d say being on the team has allowed me to meet a lot of like-minded people that I might not meet otherwise in normal classroom spaces because we have one similar thing to talk about and do,” said Bultman.
A typical week for the team involves matches, practice, and video review sessions to help the team get better. Jordan tries to make the video reviews highly detailed, understanding that disagreements are sometimes reasonable because other perspectives are formed.
“That’s the beautiful thing about Rocket League,” said Jordan. “You push a button, and now you are in someone else’s point of view as you can see what they saw as the moment happened. In my opinion, that's huge for development because sometimes you don’t want your teammates or the other team was doing.”
Bultman discusses the challenges of scouting during tournament play.
“It's so much less organized than other sports,” Bultman said. “For example, if you look at college football, Michigan State knows who they will play, but when we go to tournaments, there’s once or twice you play a college you’ve never even heard of in Rocket League. There are other teams we’ve played a lot and can discuss strategy.”
Lewis explains how cool it is to compete against other schools.
“When it was just a club thing, it was not so much competition-oriented,” said Lewis. “Now that we're playing against really high-level other colleges and playing big-time colleges and getting to compete officially as Michigan State University, that's my favorite part.”
No five minutes are the same; each match and opponent is different, but Jordan looks for consistency.
“When we study tapes of people or ourselves, and even a lot of times when we watch what other people are doing, I'm trying to emphasize the things that they do well with consistency,” said Jordan. “We don't spend too much time worrying about what other people do. We spend a lot of time worrying about what we do.”
Outside of video review sessions and matches, the Rocket League team bonds through music and storytelling.
“Music is something we all connect with,” said Jordan. “Many people who play Rocket League like to have music on. Everybody has a soundtrack that hypes them up and gets them going. And I found that teams often start to share that, and even if it isn't your style to begin with, it becomes your identity. And sometimes, you need to feel bonded to your team.”
Lewis explains how bonding through music helps the team prepare to work as a team.
“We actually, a lot of times, will be listening to the same songs at the same time,” said Lewis. “it kind of helps us get in tune and feel each other out a little bit.” “Also makes a huge difference when we're in the same space. You can see your teammates. Now you can just talk to them a lot easier. Yeah, it makes a huge difference.”
Outside of practice, the team attempts to hang out in different places.
“Other times, if we aren’t at practice, guys will Discord message each other to hang out. Not to be cliché, but we are like a family, and whether you’re on the green or white teams, we go to bat for one another,” Jordan said.