St. Clair College has made history by winning its first-ever Collegiate Rocket League (CRL) Championship, the first time a Canadian school has taken the title.
The Saints entered the CRL Spring Championship's Top 8 playoffs as the number one seed this past weekend where they took on the best programs in North America.
In the quarterfinals, the Saints took down a resilient Cumberland University by a score of 4-2. In the Semifinals, they matched up against the Fall Champions, and number three seed, Concord University. In a tightly contested match, the Saints once again took a 4-2 victory to punch their ticket to the North American Championship Grand Finals.
Taking on program rival Maryville University, the Saints were unmatched on route to a dominant 4-0 sweep. The victory marked the first time in the CRL history that a Canadian program has won the championship.
"This is what we came here for. This is what we play the game for," said Tommaso Battistoni, who came to St. Clair College as an international student from Genova, Italy in the Fall of 2024. "It was our main goal to win this competition. So, it was very good."
At 24 years of age, Battistoni reached an extremely high level early in his career and is looked at as the "veteran" when it comes to leadership and experience on the Saints squad.
"Every school competes in this, it has the biggest prize pool, and everyone is looking to win it," Battistoni said of the pedigree of competition.
The tournament featured the top Collegiate teams from across North America in three-versus-three matchups. The Saints Rocket League team of Battistoni, James Janzen from Delmenhorst, Germany, Nicolas Steinhauser from Vienna, Austria and headlined by top-tier gamer Ario Berdin of Vicenza, Italy rose above the competition to take the trophy and cash prize of $5,000.
"This is our Superbowl, our Grey Cup, our Stanley Cup. It is by far the biggest accomplishment in the competitive history of our program," said Assistant Esports Director Chris Funston. "This group came to St. Clair College from across the world with one goal in mind and they accomplished it."
The CRL Spring Championship is the culmination of the season that started with over 260 schools across Canada, the United States and Mexico competing. The Championship broadcast was watched by more than 7,000 unique viewers from around the globe.
The team was prepared by head coach Yusuf Naebkhil from Windsor, Ont. and assistant coach Luca Paparatti from Milano, Italy.
Naebkhil is also a former player and head coach at the University of Windsor. Once he graduated, he enrolled at St. Clair College to chase his dreams in esports and carve a path for himself in the industry.
"It was an incredible season. The raw talent we have on this team just improved more and more throughout the year, proven by our ability to maintain consistency when we match up against the best schools in North America," said Naebkhil. "The National Championship had no easy matches. Every team had a chance to win, but we were confident in ourselves and each other. We just had to find our flow and confidence. Once we did that, no one could stop us."
The four European players came to St. Clair College for the opportunity of a Collegiate career in esports and get an education in Esports Administration and Entrepreneurship to help build the movement.
"We're incredibly grateful to St. Clair College, and our directors, Shaun Byrne and Chris Funston, for making this possible," said Naebkhil. "Especially for bringing Ario, Luca, Tommaso, James and Nico to Canada to chase their dreams and pursue a post-secondary education while competing at the highest level."
Watch the video below to see the moment the Saints secured the victory:
