Esports: Centaurus Program Among Successful State Competitors

AURORA – Centaurus was a charter member of Esports back in 2020. Esports started as a pilot program and the first sanctioned-state championships were in 2022.

Now Esports is flourishing across the state and Centaurus is one of the more successful programs this year.

“We’re really lucky to have a school that’s supportive of our Esports program,” head coach David Wood said. “When we first started it was kind of a new thing and not many schools had an Esports program. It was kind of a new thing across the state, now supported by CHSAA, and it’s been fun to see it grow and our program to grow along with it. It’s a fun outlet for kids to have interscholastic competition in an activity they’re really passionate about and really enjoy. It’s fun, as coaches, to watch them get excited and get competitive with one another.”

Their League of Legends team advanced to the state semifinals and their Rocket League team made the quarterfinals. The in-person competition will be held at Localhost in Lakewood on Tuesday.

The championship starts with the Rocket League quarterfinals at 9 a.m.  From there, as games finish, the next round will start, so all times are approximate. The Rocket League semifinals will begin at approximately 10 a.m., with the finals set for 11 a.m. With the rolling start, League of Legends play will begin with the semifinals as soon as there are enough monitors available, at approximately 10:30 a.m., putting the championship at about 1 p.m. Splatoon will cap off the day with the quarterfinals beginning around 2 p.m., with the semifinals set for 3 p.m. and the finals at approximately 4 p.m.

A trophy presentation will take place immediately after the finals of each individual games.

Live updates for Splatoon, League of Legends and Rocket League can be found on PlayVs and the championship rounds will be streamed on the NFHS Network.

“It’s a really big accomplishment for us, because at the beginning of the season we didn’t have a lot of good teamwork,” Matthew Bezuidenhout, one of the Centaurus League of Legends members said of reaching the semifinals. “We were pretty good individually, but as the season has progressed we’ve become a lot better as a team.”

Bezuidenhout, Evan Saelaw, and Oliver Thull are three members of a six-person League of Legends team.

“Matthew is an excellent teammate,” Wood noted. “He is willing to change his game style and fill in for roles that others do not want. He is a selfless player, a kind teammate, and a determined competitor. Matthew played a big role in the positive chemistry of our League of Legends team.”

Bezuidenhout and Saelaw have progressed together. In fact, Saelaw was the one who invited the other to first join the League of Legends team last school year.

“When I was just starting out, I didn’t think I would go too far with it,” Bezuidenhout said. “When I tried my first game with the team, I was like ‘well, this is actually really fun.’ I’ve been playing ever since.”

Saelaw has been the more knowledgeable one when it comes to game strategy and gives his teammates tips. He has helped lead the way as Centaurus seeks a state championship next week.

“Evan is our team captain, and has proven himself as an excellent leader,” Wood said. “He facilitated extra practices and team bonding experiences outside of school. He leads his team with kindness and determination. He communicated with his coaches well and supported all of his team as well as members of other teams at our school to navigate the logistics of joining our Esports team.”

For the five vs. five League of Legends game, in which teamwork is absolutely essential, Centaurus has often honed its skills together on the weekends. Its opponent in the semifinals will be Cherokee Trail.

Both the League of Legends and Rocket League teams had 6-2 records in the regular season, and the Rocket League group (four members) will face Bear Creek in the quarterfinals.

This isn’t the first time the Warriors have had success. The official seasons are in the fall, but there’s also unofficial seasons in the spring. In the spring of 2024, the Rocket League team won the state championship, while the 2022 spring group lost in the finals.

Wood highlighted the contributions of his Rocket League captain this season, Alex Jurgeleit.

“Alex is extremely competent in his role,” his head coach said. “He communicates well with our coaching staff and advocates for his needs as well as the needs of his teammates. Alex is an extremely kind person, a determined competitor, and a supportive teammate.”

Bryce Diaz and Theoden Grainawi are among the other Rocket League players.

In the fall, Wood has his hands full as he is also the head boys soccer coach. The two seasons overlap, so assistant coach Hasan Elsayed has been in charge of the Esports program until soccer ends.

“He’s great,” Wood said of Elsayed. “He’s young, he’s a gamer like me, and when he started teaching here a few years ago and found out we had an Esports team he asked to get involved. I was, of course, happy to have him get involved. He does a really great job of monitoring the games and attending the social club meetings. He’s a great coach and a great role model for the kids.”

Centaurus’ coaches have a love for video games, just like their players.

“The first game I played was Super Mario World for Super Nintendo and I remember being just totally fascinated by it,” Wood said. “I’ve loved video games ever since. I was six years old when I started playing that game.”

Now Wood and Elsayed, both science teachers, have created a program with multiple teams that have gone deep into the state tournament.

Next week will determine if they clinch championships or not. Either way, Centaurus has been outstanding this fall.