RHS’ fledgling esports program soars

Roland High School started its esports program in the fall of 2022 shortly after the OSSAA recognized and adopted esports as an extracurricular activity.

The program started out by competing in Rocket League, Madden NFL Football, SMITE and Smash Bros Ultimate. In their first season they qualified for playoffs in all four games. Since then they’ve added Mario Kart, NBA 2k23 and Overwatch 2, bringing their number of playoff runs up to 19 total across all enrolled teams in just the last two years. RHS Esports has been featured four times in USA Today for their performance in Madden and NBA 2k. The program has made it to semifinals with several teams and Roland’s Ayden Conaway even secured a runner-up trophy in NBA 2k23 last fall and a first place championship trophy this spring.

“When I started this program last fall I had an inkling that it was going to catch on but I didn’t know that it was going to explode into such a dominant force in Oklahoma esports,” coach Steven Ostrander said. “I’m so happy that Roland Public Schools and the Cherokee Nation has backed our program so strongly, and I’m extremely proud of our players having the opportunity to show their amazing abilities on such a grand stage.”