MIDWAY, Ky. - Coming off the best season in its short history, hopes are high for Midway's eSports program entering the 2024-25 season.

Four Eagle teams had a combined record of 71-33 during the 2023-24 campaign. Highlights included the League of Legends and Rocket League squads both winning division championships while reaching their respective national tournaments, the first Eagle teams to ever do so.

League of Legends appears primed to duplicate its success as virtually the entire team is back from a season ago. Despite a fair amount of roster overhaul, head coach Alyssa Tinker says she's seen enough in early practices to believe chemistry will develop quickly with her Rocket League, Call of Duty and Overwatch teams.

Here's a look ahead, as Midway is set to begin the new year this week.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

LAST SEASON: 13-6 record; Southeast Region spring championship; Appearance in the NECC Navigator Tournament quarterfinals

TEAM MEMBERS: Cody Griffith, Taylor Fryman, Ayden Green, Gabriel Plata, Riley Ogden, Madison Ward, Savanna Neace

HEAD COACH ALYSSA TINKER: "Everybody returned on that roster. So they're looking ok. I never say we look great, I'm very superstitious...but they're looking ok."

ROCKET LEAGUE

LAST SEASON: 21-2 record; Undefeated fall season; Mideast Conference fall championship; Appearance in the NECC National Tournament semifinals

TEAM MEMBERS: Trevor Alexander, Lonnie Loveless III, Ethan Oouimette

TINKER: "We have a completely new roster. They did great in their placement tournaments. We went 2-1, we should have won the game that we lost. We don't seem to have dropped a lot since we lost all of our starters."

CALL OF DUTY

LAST SEASON: 26-16 record; Qualified for Southeast Region spring playoffs

TEAM MEMBERS: Brayden Goins, Ethan Schott, Logan Ramirez, Lahsen Essadaoui

TINKER: "(The team) has a lot of new players. For a majority of our teams it's new rosters, so it's really just getting them on the same page."

OVERWATCH

LAST SEASON: 9-10 record; Third-place finish in the MECC fall season

TEAM MEMBERS: Henry Paget, Dennis Johnson, Ayden Green, Trevor Alexander, Daniel Coffey, Ethan Oouimette, Madison Ward, Dylan Mullannix, Hunter Yeager, Savanna Neace, Jett Barham

TINKER: "We have a couple new players, so I think that will take a couple of weeks to get really in the grove and understanding how everybody plays."

OVERALL EXPECTATIONS

"The beginning of the season's always exciting, just seeing where you're team's going to end up" Tinker said. "I never go into a season thinking we're going to be the best out there. The kids do. They think they are the best team and they're going to repeat.

"I'm a little more cautious in my approach, but they have the confidence and the ability to meet their goals."

League of Legends opens its season tonight at 7 p.m. against Boston College B. Rocket League and Call of Duty will begin Wednesday, Rocket League against Highland Community College Blue, Call of Duty against the University of the Fraser Valley.

Overwatch is also supposed to begin play this week, though a final schedule has not yet been announced.

All competitions can be streamed on the the Midway eSports Twitch page.

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