Bloomfield Hills puts on show-stopping performance at esports state finals

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — From its formation in 2021, Bloomfield Hills High School’s esports program has been all systems go from the very beginning.

Bringing home championships and bringing together students of all ages to mesh their love of video games, Bloomfield Hills esports is thriving — and they were able to show it to the rest of the state at the Michigan High School Esports League State Championship.

“We treat it like a sport here,” Bloomfield Hills head coach Aaron Strager said. “We practice every single day for one and a half hours each day, minimum, but a lot of the kids, because it’s their time to socialize and meet new people with the same interest, a lot of kids stay for two or two and a half hours.”

The school’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe team appeared live and in action April 27 at Oakland University, fighting their way through a gauntlet of a bracket, taking down the No. 2 and No. 6 seeds to make it to the state championship match against Richmond High School.

For esports, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a 4v4 game where teams go head-to-head, and the team with the most cumulative points after the six races wins the round, which are a best of three.

Bloomfield Hills’ squad had a mix of veteran leaders and newcomers, which included the team’s MVP, junior Canon Lucai-Sample, who picked up the game this year.

Lucai-Sample was named the team’s Rookie MVP in the fall season and came back just as strong for the spring season alongside all-state selection junior Eric Young.

With both at the helm, Bloomfield Hills made an unforgettable run in the state finals, and Lucai-Sample said the team improved in a key area in order to do so.

“Definitely communication, which was a big problem last season,” Lucai-Sample said. “We either didn’t talk at all or we were too late identifying what was coming towards us or where we were. We improved that drastically, and it really helped us out.”

Communication is key, especially for maps like Rainbow Road, which is a universally disliked map by the Mario Kart community for its quick turns and unforgiving falls.

“Rainbow Road appeared multiple times during the finals and semifinals, and oh boy did it make a stir,” Strager said. “There was some falling off on the map, as you can probably expect.”

Other contributors for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe team were junior Myron Hubert, sophomore Julia Mahoney, sophomore Derek Johnston, sophomore Riley Forrester and freshman Pablo Del Val.

On the Splatoon 3 side, it was all Bloomfield Hills as Strager’s squad cruised to a state championship May 2. The state finals for Splatoon 3 were not played in person.

If you’re unfamiliar with Splatoon 3, you’re definitely not alone. Splatoon 3, developed by Nintendo, is a third-person shooter that is extremely popular in Japan. The objective of the game varies based on game mode, which can be king of the hill style, painting the map, or taking an object from one side of the map to the other.

For more clarification, junior Patrick Fritz described how his team comes up with a strategy against their opponents.

“You have to not only think about how your enemies are moving but also how their ink is moving as well,” Fritz said. “It’s very clear which spot is your spot, which spot is their spot, and which spot is a neutral spot. You have to constantly keep in mind what’s what and where your enemies are in order to prevent yourself from reaching an early end.”

For esports, Splatoon 3 is a 4v4 matchup with five games total, and the winner is decided by the first to reach three wins.

Bloomfield Hills featured two teams in the state finals bracket (Purple and Silver), and Bloomfield Hills Silver was defeated by No. 1 seed Dearborn Divine Child High School, who would face Bloomfield Hills Purple in the semifinals.

After watching their fellow teammates fall to Divine Child, Strager said it became personal for his other squad.

“We were motivated after that,” Strager said. “Silver team was like, ‘You have to go get them, Purple.’”

Tied at 2-2 with the game-deciding match, Bloomfield Hills edged top-ranked Divine Child to move onto the state championship match against Novi High School.

Strager said there was something about his team that day that made things happen.

“Something clicked with the team on that day, and they just pulled through,” Strager said. “I really think that if it had been any other day, Divine Child would’ve been in the state finals instead of us.”

All that was left in Bloomfield Hills’ way was a team they were all too familiar with — Novi. The schools had squared off multiple times throughout the season, typically in favor of Bloomfield Hills.

Bloomfield Hills could’ve come in slow after such an emotional win, but they kept their foot on the gas — straight to a state title.

“After the DC (Divine Child) game, I knew Novi didn’t stand a chance against us,” Fritz said.

Other contributors for the Splatoon 3 team were senior Sophie Scott, junior Jake Desmon, sophomore Ava Delisi, sophomore AJ Pniewski and sophomore Derek Johnston.

“This is a team where when we started off the team, was just a good group of friends that were playing together and still trying to figure out the game and what they do best in it,” Strager said. “Over time, this group of friends stuck together throughout a couple of years, so they’ve been training together every single day for a couple of years to this point. I think the thing that really made the difference was how close-knit this group of students are.”

While both teams celebrate their successful seasons, there’s no stronger round of applause in order than for senior Zachary Ring, who kickstarted the esports program with Strager in 2021.

Ring approached Strager at the end of his freshman year about starting an esports team, and the rest is history.

The program is what it is today because of Ring’s efforts, and he doesn’t plan to disappear from the program just because he’s graduating.

“It’s grown in a way I’m very happy with, and I’ll definitely cherish the growth that’s been done here,” Ring said. “I intend on coming back every now and then from college and visiting and checking in. I really am happy with how it’s grown. It’s become so much more of a community. Like Patrick was saying, we spend so much time talking outside of esports just being friends, talking about games and hating on our games. It really has grown into something much more than just guys playing video games.”

Seeing the impact esports makes in a high school, the hope is that more schools in the surrounding areas begin to join what has become a strong sports community.

“This whole thing has changed my life, honestly,” Fritz said. “Before this, I really didn’t have a lot of people. I’ve always been a pretty antisocial kid, but this has completely changed everything for me. It’s wonderful to have a bunch of people like me that I can connect and talk to.”