HAVE A CUP OF JOE WITH JOE – St. Clair College Saints Win North American Collegiate Rocket League Championship
Okay, how many readers are familiar with Esports? I wasn’t aware, but I find it fascinating that this is a significant global competitive activity. So, what exactly is it?
According to the Harvard International Review in part one of their series on Esports: “Simply put, Esports are video games that are played in a highly organized competitive environment. These games can range from popular, team-oriented Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs) to single player first person shooters, to survival battle royales, to virtual reconstructions of physical sports.”
NFHS.org describes Rocket League as just one of hundreds of leagues and events in Esports. “Rocket League is a fantastical sport-based video game, (it’s soccer with cars). It features a competitive game mode based on teamwork and outmaneuvering opponents. Players work with their team to advance the ball down the field, and score goals in their opponents’ net.”
North America Scholastic Esports Federation reports in an April 2022 post: “Esports are booming, and students across Canada are excited to not just play the games, but to pursue related careers. To support this thirst for competition and education, Esport Canada has just become an affiliate of the North America Scholastic Esports Federation. NASEF will provide additional free tournaments, programs, curriculum, and expertise to help scholastic Esports grow and thrive in Canada.”
Shaun Byrne is Esports Director and a Professor at St Clair College and Chris Funston is the Assistant Esports Director. Byrne explains how the Esports Administration and Entrepreneurship Program is part of the college curriculum: “The St. Clair Saints Varsity Esports at St. Clair College was founded in 2017 and was the first program in Canada. Teams at St. Clair are often ranked within the top 10 in North America and often are the best post secondary teams in Canada.
Watch their winning moment below.
The program provides a competitive gaming environment, focused on education and player growth where students hone their skills with the help of faculty, coaches, and staff.” Byrne further adds: “Esports players at St. Clair are treated on par with their traditional athletics counterparts, with scholarships, staff support, custom player gear, and state of the art facilities. The program currently has 21 teams with over 150 students competing in about every major game title.”
So, yes, Esports is a big deal and growing bigger with each passing year. With this in mind, we can appreciate the significance of the St. Clair College Saints winning their first ever North American Collegiate Rocket League (CRL) Championship this spring. The CRL Spring Championship is the culmination of the season that started with over 260 colleges and universities across Canada, the United States and Mexico, competing. Over 7,000 unique viewers saw the Championship broadcast.
“This is our Super Bowl, our Grey Cup, our Stanley Cup,” comments Assistant Esports Director Funston. “It is by far the biggest accomplishment in the competitive history of our program. This group came to St. Clair College from across the world with one goal in mind and they accomplished it.”
These top global Esports performers were recruited by St. Clair through scholarships, similar to how talent is recruited in basketball, hockey, track and field, football, and other sports. The Saints’ CRL team players are: James Janzen from Delmenhorst, Germany; Nicolas Steinhauser from Vienna, Austria; Tommaso Battistoni from Genova, Italy; and Ario Berdin from Vicenza, Italy.
They are led by Head Coach Yusuf Naebkhil, an Afghan Canadian from Windsor, Ontario, and his Assistant Coach, Luca Paparatti, from Milano, Italy.
Truly, they form a richly multicultural team and their story of diversity, hard work, and triumph fits in perfectly for this multicultural issue of Biz X.
The Saints Head Coach, Naebkhil, is 22 years old and a recent graduate of the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Computer Science degree. While attending university he was also enrolled at St. Clair College in the Esports Administration and Entrepreneurship Program, which he will finish in 2026.
He explains: “The university studies were for my computer development ability, while the college provided me the tools in business administration and marketing for a possible future in Esports.”
Naebkhil’s parents fled war-torn Afghanistan 30 years ago and landed in Canada in Etobicoke, living with relatives — nine of them in a small apartment. His mother, Nafisa, moved to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan for work as a dental assistant. It was there that Naebkhil was born.
The family later returned to the GTA and his mother, sisters Sina and Shaista, and brother, Yama, ended up moving with Naebkhil to Windsor.
Naebkhil attended Tecumseh Vista Academy Secondary School where he led the Robotics Team. This was a preview of the future leadership he’d be exercising in his post-secondary education.
As Esports Director Byrne reflects: “Yusuf has fully taken advantage of the opportunities to get involved as a student at St. Clair. His success already, through his first year, has been tremendous, so the sky is the limit for him with this team moving forward.”
And for his head coaching efforts, and as recognition for his leadership ability, Naebkhil was recently awarded Coach of the Year in the College’s Esports program.
Biz X magazine congratulates St. Clair College Saints on winning their Collegiate Rocket League North American Championship, and wishes continued success to Coach Naebkhil and the entire team!
