Esports organisation Williams Resolve have announced a partnership with Warwick University’s Rocket League roster for the 2022/23 academic season.
The team consisting of Robert ‘Treefork’ Phillips, Suket ‘Sushi’ Arya and Harry ‘Zouch’ Ecob will play under the name ‘Warwick Williams Resolve’ - and will be coached by former RLCS player Euan ‘Tadpole’ Ingram.
The partnership was announced via a video on William Resolve’s Twitter page:
Williams Resolve X @WarwickEsports @Warwick_RL #ShowYourResolve pic.twitter.com/IoEH0lXDs7
— Williams Resolve (@RSVGG) November 4, 2022
Treefork revealed the unique way the partnership came to be, saying: “Sushi reached out to Jeff from Williams Resolve and the partnership evolved from there!”
In terms of the announcement's importance, Sushi said: “I think this is quite major for both university Rocket League and Esports in general as now organisations are willing to be a part of the student Esports.”
…maybe UK university esports will become close to that of American universities, where basically every university offers an Esports scholarship.” He added.
On why he thought the organisation chose Warwick Esports to partner with, Treefork said the following: “It’s a combination of us being the number one esports society, our campus hosting the Esports Centre and even more simply, the fact we asked.”
Sushi was already known by Resolve before he even stepped foot in Warwick University, saying: “They knew who I was as I was quite well-known in the high school scene, as well as winning some of their Rocket League mini-games competitions they held at a BESC LAN.”
Funnily enough, the person representing Resolve at Confetti in 2021 used to be an ex-student of my high school teacher who was helping me run Esports at my school, as well as founding the University of Warwick's Esports society!” He added.
Partnering with Resolve gave the team the opportunity to meet the organisation’s RLCS and women’s Rocket League teams. Sushi even made professional player Jack ‘FlamE’ Pearton some presets to use on his account.
Warwick player Zouch said: “It was great [meeting the teams]; particularly since I've followed the careers of Breezi and FlamE for years at this point because they have been in and around the EU scene for so long.
He also commented on whether there was any added pressure to perform under the new banner, saying:
“I find that dwelling on pressure, expectations or desires will only ever make you play worse. With that said, if we ever get close to achieving some big milestone like making the world championships or winning NSE, I’m sure the pressure will be felt by everyone just as it is in any form of competition when the stakes are high.”
Treefork touched on if he thought any other organisations would be following suit by partnering with other esports societies, saying: “Absolutely. What’s the next best thing after RLCS? Collegiate Rocket League…I’ve heard of one UK team who are in talks, but obviously, that’s as much as I can say.”
As for the future in their new endeavour, Zouch said: “I’ll be satisfied if at the end of our time competing together we can say with absolute certainty that we left nothing in the tank; that we did everything conceivably possible to perform together as a team.”
If we do that - in the realm of university competition - the sky's the limit for us without a doubt.” He said.
Treefork echoed this, saying: “My goal is simple - to be happy with what we’ve achieved by the end of the year. I don’t want to leave university thinking I’d ‘wasted’ my time playing Rocket League with nothing to show for it.”
Sushi closed out, saying: “It feels great. Amazing. I would have never thought I would be playing Rocket League at a top UK university for a top UK team and getting sponsored too!”
Warwick, unfortunately, failed to qualify for the CRL (Collegiate Rocket League) World Championship last season, narrowly missing out after losing to Salford Lions in the Lower-Bracket Semi-Final.
They didn’t start so well in their first outing under the organisation last week either. Failing to impress in the UniRocketeers Winter 2022-23 Qualifier Two, where they lost 3-2 in Lower-Bracket round five to Eelcastle Gamers.
However, with the backing of an ex-RLCS player as a coach and the support of Williams Resolve behind them, the team is surely bound to succeed in their future endeavours.
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