Saints Rocket League to Represent Canada at Commonwealth Esports Championships

From left, Assistant Coach Ajay Singh, Ben “Spoods” Talbot, Josh “Jay” Podruzny, Josh “Comp” Byrne, Bailey “Nitryx” Lamont, Head Coach Mike LePine. (Photo by Chris Funston)

St. Clair College’s Rocket League team is going International as they’ll be heading to Birmingham, England to represent Canada in the first-ever Commonwealth Esports Championships as part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games this August.

They qualified for the Commonwealth Esports Championships after finishing as the top Canadian team in The Gaming Stadium’s Rocket League Open event held this past weekend.

”The opportunity to be representing Canada at the Commonwealth Games is amazing and is something I never thought I would be able to do. To play for Canada is a dream I’ve always had,” said Josh “Comp” Byrne. “We’ve put in a lot of hard work as a team and individually. I’ve been determined and constantly working towards improvement, for both my life and career, over the past seven years and I'm glad to finally to see it pay off.”

Before crossing the Atlantic, the Saints Rocket League squad will be heading south of the border to Dallas, Texas in June for the first-ever Collegiate Rocket League World Championship as part of Dreamhack Dallas. St. Clair College is the only Canadian program to qualify for the World Championship, which will feature 10 schools from North America and six from Europe.

”I’m proud of my players. Seeing all of our hard work produce results like this is incredible,“ said Saints Rocket League Head Coach Mike LePine. “Representing Canada is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us and we’re going to continue to put the work in, that’s for sure.”

"The effort and hard work that the team has put into the game is truly commendable,” added Assistant Coach Ajay Singh. “I am grateful to be coaching such a talented set of individuals. These opportunities only happen once in a lifetime and we are all happy to be experiencing it."

Saints Rocket League

Ben “Spoods” Talbot, Windsor, ON — Computer Systems Technology - Networking
Josh “Jay” Podruzny, Grande Prairie, AB — Computer Systems Technology - Networking
Josh “Comp” Byrne, Edmonton, AB — Business Administration - Marketing
Bailey “Nitryx” Lamont, Windsor, ON — Esports Administration & Entrepreneurship

Head Coach Mike LePine
Assistant Coach Ajay Singh — Biomedical Engineering Technology - Equipment and Devices