For the last 4 years, Ely High School has offered students in grades 6-12 the chance to gather once a week in the computer lab for an after-school extracurricular activity to play video games, also known as Esports.
The original goal was to give kids who didn’t participate in traditional sports or simply loved gaming an option to play and compete locally in something they enjoyed. Assistant principal Jeff Carey and teacher Amy Kingsley teamed up to provide funding and supervision to make this happen.
Two years ago, Kingsley passed the leadership to Emmett Penke, and the students who had been attending for years had become quite competitive, especially in the game Rocket League.
For those unfamiliar, Rocket League is played like soccer, but you control cars that can be customized to match your personality and style.
Once a week, teams compete in a best-of-5 match online with teams all over the state.
“I saw they had some impressive skills, and I’ve always loved sports and competition. I started to explore opportunities to join a statewide league so these students could challenge themselves and represent their school in competition. Esports, as they’re called, are really gaining popularity, not only at the high school level but also in colleges, with scholarships and competitive teams available,” says Penke.
Initially, the Ely group simply played Rocket League locally, but this fall, something changed, according to Penke.
“The two guys, Jack Jordan and Jesse Grant, who had been coming regularly from the start of September, asked me, ‘Are we going to compete in that league? We really want to,” said Penke. “I’m not sure what shifted this year because I had been telling them we should last year, but they were happy just gaming locally.”
Penke quickly started gathering the necessary information, got them registered, participated in coaching Zoom calls, and by last November, Ely was competing in a 40-team statewide Rocket League tournament with 10 teams in our section.
“The team wanted to be called “Ely Vortex,” so that’s the name they registered,” said Penke. “The only issue was that it was a 3v3 format, and we only had two players. So, we searched for a third teammate and found a great player in Zach Barker. Now we had three skilled players, and off we went into our first-ever E-Sports season at Ely High School. It was a lot of fun.”
The team wasn’t sure what to expect, and with Zach also committed to the Ely basketball team, they often had to play with only two competitors.
“I thought for sure we were going to struggle playing 2 on 3 but Jesse and Jack are great players,” said Penke. “So much so that we went undefeated in our regular season and only once did all three of us play together because of Zach’s basketball commitments. Still, Jesse and Jack were impressive. Super confident and really did a great job playing short-handed.”
Grant, the team captain, was selected to compete in a statewide all-star game between the regular season and playoffs.
In the playoffs, they again played 2 on 3 due to Zach’s basketball game in Chisholm and finished an impressive second out of ten teams, qualifying them for the state tournament in Saint Cloud at Saint Cloud State.
“The guys were thrilled, as was I,” said Penke. “Again, playing short-handed and still winning two games of the best of five. We wanted that first place standing, but to be eligible for state was the goa. The only problem now was funding! So I told the guys to meet me at lunch for a quick photo because I was going to ask for some help from the social media community! I really wanted these guys to have an incredible experience—good food, a nice hotel, and some team gear so they could look like the team they had become.”
To Penke’s surprise, money poured in from Florida, Washington and elsewhere, and within 24 hours, all the funds needed were raised for their trip, covering everything and more.
“The Young Life community and others who care about kids really stepped up,” said Penke. “I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of gifts. It was incredible to see how much people cared and supported them.”
At the state tournament, the Ely team went 2-1 in pool play, narrowly missing a spot in the semi-finals but finishing fifth out of sixteen teams - an impressive achievement for a group of students on their first trip to the state tournament.
“I’m proud of this team. They competed well against some of the best high school Rocket League teams in the state; there isn’t much more you can ask for,” said Penke.
