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Fingers were flying and eyeballs were bobbing at Bishop Carter Auditorium on Saturday.

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Two provincial titles were on the line in a competition a little different from the usual high-scoring fare.

Lucas Tignanelli is the coach of a sport that many may realize is becoming a big problem at some schools.

Tignanelli is the eSports coach at Saint Joseph-Scollard Hall and on Saturday, some of his student-athletes competed against the best players in the province.

This was the second season the Bears ran a secondary eSports team.

This was also the second time the Bears qualified for the provincial eSports championship.

“We see two groups of three playing a game called ‘Rocket League.’ This is a soccer game in an enclosed field, but you play with cars (used to kick the soccer ball).

It becomes a technically difficult game trying to maneuver your car and throw the ball into the net,” says Tignanelli.

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The two local teams were facing out-of-town teams in virtual games.

“Our Emerald Bears play in the Platinum Division across Ontario and are currently playing the Bayridge Blazers and our Golden Bears are playing the Massey Mustangs.

SJSH is one of the few schools in Northern Ontario to have an e-sports team according to Tignanelli.

He says there are many benefits to students participating in these types of competitions.

“I like to do as many extracurricular activities as possible as a teacher here,” Tignanelli says. “We have so many students here at Scollard and we’re trying to diversify what we can offer our students and our (school) board. This gives us an opportunity to give students a chance to play a sport if they didn’t have another sport to play.

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It was a great day for both SJSH teams as they won provincial titles in both categories.

Hayden Baron was a player on the Golden Bears’ winning team. Baron was pretty happy to win.

“It’s so senseless; I didn’t expect to get this far. The three of us worked really hard together.

There were ups and downs, but we held on and I’m proud of everyone,” says Baron.

Jorge Costa thinks winning in his category is important. “It’s pretty big,” Costa says.

“I’ve been playing this game since 2018 and finally won something big with it. What better way to do that than to represent my school.

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