{"id":233399,"date":"2026-05-01T07:30:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T17:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=233399"},"modified":"2026-05-01T07:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T17:58:12","slug":"rocket-league-national-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/05\/01\/rocket-league-national-champions\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> Mānoa Rocket League team wins national esports championship in 1st season"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> Rocket League national championship team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/span>\u2019s Rocket League team captured a national championship in its first year of competition, completing an undefeated 10-0 spring 2026 season and sweeping the grand finals 4-0.<\/p>\n

Rocket League is a competitive game that combines soccer and driving, with players controlling rocket-powered cars to score goals in fast-paced team matches. At the collegiate level, the game requires strategy, communication, teamwork and quick decision-making under pressure.<\/p>\n

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Rocket League in-game shot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This win is the latest milestone for UH<\/abbr> Esports, one of the country\u2019s premier collegiate esports programs and widely recognized as one of the best collegiate esports programs in the nation. Formally launched in 2018–19, the program earned national acclaim in 2022 when it was named the best collegiate esports program in the U.S.<\/a> It now includes more than 100 student-athletes competing year-round in the Mountain West Conference and in national tournaments across multiple games, including Rocket League, League of Legends, Overwatch and Valorant.<\/p>\n

“This isn\u2019t just students playing video games,” said Sky Kauweloa, UH<\/abbr> Esports director. “Esports at UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> is about leadership, teamwork and creating opportunities for students to represent their university at the highest level. What this team accomplished in its very first season shows the talent we have here in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and the kind of community we\u2019re building through this program.”<\/p>\n

Freshman Logan Gregory, a Mililani High School graduate known in-game as “Sly,” helped lead the program as team captain. Gregory was already one of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s top high school Rocket League players and a state champion before coming to UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span>. He played a key role in building the team from the ground up and shaping its competitive culture.<\/p>\n

“Building the program for Rocket League in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> was an amazing opportunity to prove that Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> can compete on a national level when leadership, teamwork and dedication are put together into one team,” Gregory said. “Coming in as my first year, I wanted to help create something special here at UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span>; a foundation for Rocket League that shows Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> players belong in the national esports scene. In such a short amount of time, I am proud that we have accomplished something so great through the hours of the team\u2019s commitment, trust, bonding and love for the game for the chance to prove ourselves that we are a championship level team.”<\/p>\n

\"video
Rocket League in-game shot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The team also added a major transfer in junior Jesse Hushower, known in competition as “Hoosh,” who came to UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> from Boise State University, one of the nation\u2019s top collegiate Rocket League programs. His experience competing at a high level helped strengthen the roster during its championship run.<\/p>\n

“Before transferring from Boise State University, I had the opportunity to tour UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span>‘s campus and meet with the esports team,” Hushower said. “After I talked with several members in the esports program I realized how connected the people here seemed which was a large influence on why I chose to come to UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span>. Coming from a school with a well established esports program, Rocket League in particular, I believe I was able to bring some of that experience with me and enhance the quickly growing UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> esports program. It has been an overall amazing experience.”<\/p>\n

Junior Ahled Dame Domingo (“ad2littt”) and freshman Noah Vila (“nowuz”) rounded out the championship roster, contributing to the team\u2019s depth and consistency throughout the season. The operator of the Rocket League tournament was PlayVs.<\/p>\n

Visit the UH<\/abbr> esports team\u2019s X<\/a> and Discord<\/a> pages. More stories on UH<\/abbr>\u2019s esports program<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rocket League requires strategy, communication, teamwork and quick decision-making under pressure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":233400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1405,1466,911,660,9],"class_list":["post-233399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-esports","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-program-recognition","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/manoa-esports-rocket-league-national-champions.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233399"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233406,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233399\/revisions\/233406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}