john.sorce@theleaven.org<\/a><\/p>\nLAWRENCE \u2014 Sports played on a field or court is not the only way to add to a school\u2019s trophy case \u2014 as Corpus Christi School here just demonstrated.<\/p>\n
The Corpus Christi Saints added a trophy to their collection after winning their esports league in December.<\/p>\n
The school won the Verizon Innovative Learning Esports League for the game of Rocket League at the middle school level.<\/p>\n
The league, which is sponsored by Verizon, is a \u201cfree scholastic esports league for middle and high schools which will enable educators across the country to engage their students in a safe, toxicity-free environment that combines students\u2019 passion for gaming with a focus on well-being and social-emotional learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team is in its first year of existence after technology director and teacher Zechariah Mickelson pitched the idea after being hired at the school prior to the school year.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ESports-Team-jpg.webp.webp\")
From left, Richard Seigrist, Dexter Hinton, Sterling Tankoano and coach Zechariah Mickelson celebrate a big esports win for Corpus Christi School in Lawrence. COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n
Mickelson started a team at his previous job at a school in Texas and has a background with esports as he grew up playing and practicing with professional players.<\/p>\n
Not every kid is athletically gifted, and Mickelson feels that esports can be another avenue to representing your school and making like-minded friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cEsports in general is very rewarding for the children who are not very athletic or are maybe not socially accepted,\u201d Mickelson said. \u201cThey are able to join a club where they can play video games and experience teamwork, competition and responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are other games where teams can compete in esports like Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros. and Madden.<\/p>\n
But Rocket League, which is described on its website as \u201ca high-powered hybrid of arcade- style soccer and vehicular mayhem,\u201d separates itself with its teamwork foundation as well as it being an easy game for an adult to supervise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Rocket League, you can see what\u2019s happening and how the kids are practicing,\u201d Mickelson said. \u201cYou can set expectations and how to meet them, so that\u2019s a big reason why we\u2019re set on Rocket League.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most matches take place in a school classroom, and the team competes online against middle schools from across the country.<\/p>\n
The team was also able to attend the Chiefs Game On! Event in October at Arrowhead, where they were able to network with professional Rocket League players from the Kansas City Pioneers, as well as play against other schools.<\/p>\n
Being able to compete against other schools in-person is something that Mickelson is hopeful to experience one day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it would be fantastic if we could get our Catholic middle schools into a league together,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of the biggest challenges is having in-person events, so that would allow us to do that more often.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo actually wear your school jersey and go out and support your school against another team is a phenomenal experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mickelson got the approval to start a team with a $1,500 budget. He has worked within that budget and has also gotten the aid of some parents who have donated computers.<\/p>\n
He is happy to help anyone who might be interested in starting a team at their school.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of schools are intimidated by the price because they think they need a tech lab with desktops and monitors, and that can get expensive,\u201d Mickelson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anybody has questions about budgets or if the computers they already have will suffice, I am more than happy to be the go-to guy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
To learn more, Mickelson can be reached by email at: zmickelson@cccparish.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From left, eighth graders Dexter Hinton and Kaden Crews along with sixth graders Sterling Tankoano and Richard Seigrist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":{"0":"post-134746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corpus-christi","8":"tag-corpus-christi","9":"tag-corpus-christi-headlines","10":"tag-corpus-christi-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ESports-jpg.webp.webp\")
From left, eighth graders Dexter Hinton and Kaden Crews along with sixth graders Sterling Tankoano and Richard Seigrist make up the esports team from Corpus Christi School in Lawrence. The four won the Verizon Innovative Learning Esports League for the game of Rocket League at the middle school level. COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n