Lulu Zawitoski

West Po Rocket League team athletes Eamon Kretzer, James O’Neill and Alex Nestares pose for a shot with Xbox controllers.

West Potomac’s Rocket League team didn’t exist a year ago, now, it’s been to states.

In its first season ever, the new esports team has already qualified for the state tournament, something even the players didn’t fully expect when the year started. They played on April 25th at Old Dominion University in a set of matches that, for a brand new program, already felt like a big moment, and came out in the top 8 which is a huge accomplishment for the team.

Senior Alex Nestares said he ended up on the team almost by chance after a friend suggested it while he was injured.

“I joined the Rocket League team because my friend Eamon suggested it as a way to still be involved in something competitive while I was injured and couldn’t play my normal sport,” Nestares said.

At the beginning of the season, expectations weren’t exactly high, even from the players themselves, and the early matches made that clear.

“After the first few games we realized it was kind of a joke for most people, and it didn’t seem like anyone really knew what to expect from us,” he said.

But what started off casual quickly turned into something more structured as the team began meeting regularly after school and building a rhythm together. Nestares said the biggest challenge wasn’t technical skill, but making sure everything ran smoothly off the field.

“The biggest issue has been managing subs and being able to coordinate when people can’t make it to games, because when you’re dealing with a brand new team, everyone’s schedules are all over the place and it takes time to figure out how to actually function consistently,” he said.

Still, the results came faster than expected.

“Making it to states in the first year is huge, especially for a program that just started from nothing,” Nestares said. “It’s something we didn’t even know was realistic at the beginning.”

For senior Four O’Neill, one of the biggest surprises wasn’t just the wins, but how quickly the team gained recognition outside of itself.

“I think the most surprising part is the recognition by the school as a whole, especially seeing the official West Potomac account reposting our wins and realizing people are actually paying attention to esports now,” O’Neill said.

Senior Anes Celebic said the team’s success came less from individual talent and more from how quickly they learned to play together as one unit.

“It wasn’t individual, it was more team-like,” Celebic said. “Every player is good enough to compete at that level, but what really made it work was connecting how everyone plays and building that chemistry over time.”

He said the team’s confidence started to build early, after a couple of strong performances showed what they were capable of.

“After the first two games, it set in how good we are when we started looking at our results compared to other teams and realizing we could actually compete at the top,” he said.

Beyond gameplay, Celebic said his role was just as much about energy as it was about performance.

“I was always trying to keep everyone up, keeping things light, making sure no one was stressed out or overthinking,” he said.

Now, with having competed in states, the team is already thinking about what comes next for the program they helped build from the ground up.

“I’d like to see it expand into other games like Fortnite and Valorant, just to see more people at West Potomac get involved in esports,” Celebic said.

As for Nestares, he said the results speak for themselves.

“West Po’s never had a team as good as us.”