Elkhart celebrates Esports State Champions Day
May 27—Fresh off the heels of a dominant state championship win in their inaugural season, the Elkhart High School Esports team was honored with a proclamation by Mayor Jennifer McCoy designating Thursday, May 24 as "Elkhart Elks Esports State Champions Day."
Esports is competitive video gaming that can be traced back to the early '70s. What started as a fun casual activity between friends developed into a competitive gaming space for Elkhart's Roberto Gomez-Gonzalez, Brice Flynn, Kollin Peiffer and Sean Carr. Coaches Dustin Crawford and Brandon Franklin, both longtime gamers, began planning how they could bring an Esports team to Elkhart a year ago and were able to bring the idea to fruition.
The success was immediate. The Elkhart Elks Esports team, known as 'Rollin,' put in the hard work and rose to become state champions and the state's most dominant team.
Mayor McCoy's proclamation stated:
"Whereas Elkhart Elks Esports team has only been in existence for one year and
"Whereas the City of Elkhart is proud to be home to the outstanding Elkhart Elks Esports team known as "Rollin'" and Senior Roberto Gomez-Gonzalez, Senior Brice Flynn, Kollin Peiffer and Sean Carr and
"Whereas May 13, 2023, the Elkhart team defeated their opponents in a best-of-five series.
"Whereas the city now celebrates the 2023 Elkhart Elks Esports team for bringing home the state championship.
"Therefore, I, Jennifer McCoy, Mayor of the City of Elkhart, in recognition of the outstanding accomplishments, do hereby proclaim May 24, 2023 as Elkhart Elks Esports State Champions Day in the City of Elkhart and urge all citizens of Elkhart to recognize their achievements and the distinction they bring to our community and encourage all citizens to applaud and celebrate this success."
"This is such a positive thing, not just for Elkhart High School, but for the community as a whole," McCoy said. "To accomplish what these students did in their very first year is something that will inspire so much community pride. And it's an accomplishment that needed to be recognized."
