This past weekend, the Manchester Township High School ESports teams competed at the New Jersey State Championships, achieving their highest placement to date in school history. The Rocket League and Super Smash Bros. teams both advanced to the divisional quarterfinals, marking a tie to last year’s Rocket League placement and a record achievement for the Super Smash Bros. team.
The Manchester Township ESports program is an organization of students who play a variety of competitive video games. Each game is played by a completely different team of students, as talent in certain types of gameplay does not necessarily overlap. Rocket League emphasizes team play, ball control, and offensive/defensive strategy, while Super Smash Bros. is a fighting game that challenges players to predict opponents’ moves, react quickly, and find openings to score.
This fall season, the Rocket League team practiced on Mondays and played matches on Tuesdays, competing in seven full matches against seven other schools with a three-student roster. The Smash Bros team, made up of nine students, practiced on Tuesdays and competed on Wednesdays, also playing seven matches against a unique set of schools. In addition, the program fielded a Marvel Rivals team of twelve students, several of whom also played for Smash Bros. That team finished the season with a 3-4 record and did not advance to the championships. Altogether, Manchester ESports this season was composed of three distinct teams and 19 unique students, each with their own schedules and competitive opponents.
The championship event was hosted at Georgian Court University from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with over 2,500 players participating. The event was organized by the Garden State ESports League, highlighting the growing talent and dedication of high school ESports athletes across New Jersey.
Manchester Township High School is proud of all its ESports students for representing the district with skill, teamwork, and sportsmanship throughout the season and for achieving historic results for the program.