Rocket League Gamers Will Face Off in Final Rounds at RichmondCC

May 23, 2018 – Richmond Community College will host the finals for the Rocket League Gaming Tournament on June 2 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cole Auditorium. Eight elite teams will face off in the final rounds of the competition to vie for the championship title and cash prizes.

Through the month of May, teams of three to five players have been playing Rocket League in a gaming competition hosted by the RichmondCC Foundation. Rocket League is a video game that mashes up sports and driving. Developed and published by Psyonix, Rocket League is a vehicular soccer video game where players use rocket-powered vehicles to hit a ball into their opponent’s goal and score points over the course of a match.

The tournament has been hosted online, but the final rounds will be played locally in a face-to-face tournament on June 2. The first-place team will receive $250; the second place team $100.

“This is a very unique event for the Foundation to host, but we wanted to do something different and to draw the interest of young people,” said Dr. Hal Shuler, Associate Vice President of Development. “In fact, we’ve relied heavily on a group of Early College students to help us orchestrate this whole tournament.”

Yash Patel, Matthew Newton, Braxton Talbert and Jake Michaels, all of who graduated from the Richmond Early College High School (REaCH) program last weekend, have been instrumental in setting up the tournament online, connecting with players and creating the brackets.

“Honestly, I haven’t understood a whole lot about how this online gaming works, but these guys do,” Shuler said. “Their enthusiasm to get involved and help with this fundraiser has been a great way for the younger generation to connect with the Foundation.”

The public is invited to the face-to-face final rounds of the tournament on June 2 where you can watch the action live. The competition will also be live streamed on Twitch TV with play-by-play analysis.

There will be other video games available to play in a “Gamers’ Room” at the Cole Auditorium during the tournament. Compliments of GameStop, these games will include NBA 2K18, FIFA 18, Need for Speed Payback, Madden and Rocket League. Cost is $3 per 30 minutes of play.

Besides video games, there will be an area zoned off for people to test their flying skills using a drone and a chance to enter a raffle for prizes, including GameStop gift cards. Lunch will also be available for purchase from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Proceeds from the Rocket League Gaming Tournament will benefit the Summer STEM Camps held at RichmondCC. For more details about the tournament, call Shuler at (910) 410-1807.