Richfield eSports Team Heads to State Tournament

Congratulations to our Richfield High School eSports League of Legends team for qualifying for the Minnesota Varsity League (MNVL) Fall State Tournament! In order to qualify, the team needed to win enough games in the regular season to be one of the top 10 teams in Minnesota. (Curious about what League of Legends is? Check out our feature story highlighting our Richfield High School team!)

The RHS League of Legends team is in the fifth seed, and the tournament begins with single-elimination play. If they win their games to advance to the semifinals, they will play best of three games to get to the finals. These games will take place on January 15, 2023, at Wisdom Gaming HQ at the Mall of America throughout the day, and will be livestreamed on Twitch. 

Just like any other sport, League of Legends requires good communication, fast reflexes and lots of teamwork. Student and player Chris Hoban says his favorite thing about eSports is being able to count on his team. His teammate, Phillip, says, “I wish that people would understand in eSports there is a lot of work that a team has to do together in order to improve.” Our teams have practices after school each week, and a dedicated coach who helps them improve their game.

Coach Jamison Taylor says, “This is super exciting for us because we get to showcase the skills that we built up throughout the season at a big event in the mall. The players have definitely grown in their communication and teamwork skills throughout the semester and bonded together as a team.”

This is the first year that the RHS League of Legends team has participated in the MNVL statewide competitive league. Last year, which was the first year RHS had any official eSports teams, they competing in PlayVS and finished their competitive season ranked #20 out of 90 teams across several states in the Midwest.

“Being able to go to the Mall of America and see our opponents face-to-face will be awesome,” says student and player Anthony Rutherford. “We might not be able to experience something like that again.”

Another member of the team, Jose Carroll, talks about the benefits of being on a team. “Our team has grown closer as friends,” he said. “Overall, having a team is a positive thing for all of us, it allows us to feel included and contribute our hobby into a rewarding, competitive activity.”

You can watch the team play throughout the day on January 15, 2023, on Twitch. We will share the direct link on Twitter and on our Richfield High School Facebook page once it is available. You will need to have a Twitch account to watch.