To some, video games can seem like a lazy, fruitless activity. The boom in online streaming and esports in recent years has helped rewrite that narrative. And Eisenhower senior Christian Vazquez is proving that video games can help in ways that make Mom and Dad happy, too.
On Tuesday, Vazquez, a member of Eisenhower’s state championship-winning Rocket League team, signed a letter of intent to go to Oklahoma City University on partial scholarship to play for the Stars’ Rocket League team. In doing so, he became the first student from Lawton to sign for esports and just the second ever in the state of Oklahoma, Ike esports coach Charles Leslie said.
“It just bring legitimacy to the program. It shows that everything we as a district, as a school and as program have worked for is worth it,” Leslie said of what Vazquez’s signing means to the program. “It just shows how awesome of students, athletes and kids these guys are.”
Lawton Public Schools brought esports to its schools four years ago, with Eisenhower as the charter program. Christian, who had long enjoyed playing video games, especially Rocket League, jumped at the opportunity to join the school’s team.
“The people I’ve met in Rocket League are generally really cool, I’ve made a lot of friends along the way,” Vazquez said. “It’s helped me socialize a lot along the way and help get my name out there.”
It was with the school’s esports team that Christian really began to develop not just as a player, but as a teammate and leader.
“When they formed an esports team here at the school is when I realized it was serious,” Christian’s mother, Cynthia Cavazos-Vazquez said. “The leadership responsibilities he’s acquired and shown were surprising to me, being a mom.
His high school coach said those leadership skills were never more evident than when LPS began expanding esports to other MacArthur and Lawton High.
“Normally when you see school rivals, it’s you and against them, you’re constantly competing to prove who’s better, you’re not trying to help them,” Leslie said. “Christian did what I would love to see from any student, any citizen of Lawton. He took the time out of his own life to go over there, help train and teach the other programs what they can do better for their students, how to grow their programs, how to play Rocket League and worked with them and communicated with them.”
Christian, who games under the name Storm, first learned about the opportunities for college about a year ago. It didn’t take much convincing to win over his parents.
“At first, I was like every other parent. I was like, ‘What are you doing always inside the house? Go outside, go play, go play, go play,’” his father Angel said. “But Christian started telling me, ‘They’re looking at me for this, looking at me for that,’ and then I started thinking, ‘Wait a minute, this could get him into school.’”
He signed with Oklahoma City, where esports coach Patrick McClung said he was impressed not only by Christian’s skill as a player, but the leadership qualities and communication skills he showed with teammates.
“One of the things I look for is not just their ranking, but I look for leadership qualities, definitely recommendations from their esports coach at their school, as well as the overall commitment to growing, not only as an esports athlete, but also esports in general,” McClung said. “Were they big in building their program at their school? Were they competing at the state events? Also, what is their relationship with their team? Are they someone who lifts up their team? And that’s something Christian definitely exemplified for me.”
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