Photo credit: Emory Johnson, Esports Athlete
By: Braxton Gregory Sports Editor
When Idaho State University launched its esports program, the vision extended well beyond controllers and scoreboards.
“Esports is about more than just gaming — it’s about bringing students together, fostering a community where they can connect, collaborate, and compete,” said Lowell Richards, associate vice president for Student Affairs.
Two years later, that community has a national stage to prove it.
The ISU varsity Rocket League team claimed the Big Sky Championship grand finals Sunday, defeating Weber State, Northern Arizona University and Sacramento State to earn a berth in the National Association of Collegiate Esports national tournament, a field reserved for the top 96 programs in the country.
The run capped a season defined as much by adversity as achievement, and a program that has grown faster than anyone anticipated.
“This year has been turbulent,” said Charles Johnston, head coach and program coordinator. “The growth from year one has been incredible — our original roster had a lot of success last year, winning the Big Sky State Games in Missoula, Montana, as well as qualifying for NACE national playoffs.”
That foundation nearly crumbled before the spring semester began. The team lost a starter heading into the fall, a departure that forced roster changes and carried ripple effects well into the new year. Finding replacements was only part of the problem. Rebuilding the cohesion that made the original group successful proved far more difficult.
Their schedule offered little margin for error during the transition. Nationally ranked opponents including Lubbock Christian University and Illinois State University, programs known for deep postseason runs, filled the calendar and exposed every crack in the lineup.
Reestablishing rhythm proved to be the season’s defining challenge.
“The biggest challenge we had to overcome was getting back on the same page and getting our flow back as a team,” Johnston said. “We started to piece everything together at the perfect time.”
With upperclassmen comprising most of the roster, balancing competition and practice against intensive course loads and work schedules added another layer of difficulty. Team sessions became leaner out of necessity, tighter and more deliberate, built around efficiency rather than volume.
What the team could not manufacture together, its players pursued individually.
“The largest obstacle we had to overcome this season is finding the balance of practice and competition with our school and work schedules,” Johnston said. “Largely I credit the players for putting in many hours of individual practice to make sure their mechanics and skills were as fine-tuned as possible to perform for their teammates.”
The national tournament bid carried particular weight given last year’s outcome. Idaho State fell one match short of qualifying, eliminated by rival Northern Arizona University in a finish that lingered through the offseason. When the bracket delivered the same matchup with identical stakes, the Bengals did not flinch.
“When it came time to play them again for the same stake, the team played in a very composed way, making sure that we were resilient and staying ahead of our fundamentals and communication to eventually give ourselves the edge,” Johnston said.
They dispatched Northern Arizona University and followed with a championship-clinching win over Sacramento State — redemption and resolution in the span of a single weekend.
Idaho State Esports fields seven teams across multiple titles this semester. The varsity Rocket League squad is the program’s only national qualifier, a distinction the roster earned through months of individual preparation, collective recalibration and a refusal to let last year’s near-miss define them.
“We’ve done the hard part of earning our chance to play at the highest level,” he said. “We have earned the right to be there. Now, we will simply enjoy the journey with our close-knit group, embrace the stakes and stick to the game plan.”