James Jordan - Esports 

When James Jordan moved to St. Clair, Michigan, in 2014, he finally had internet fast enough that allowed him to enter the world of competitive online gaming. Since then, he's become a student of the sport, working his way up to the top 1.5% in the world.  

He began competing in Rocket League, which he described as 3-on-3 soccer with rocket-powered cars. He's won several championships, including two first-place and one second-place finishes in the Rocket League Rival Series, and competed in one season of the Rocket League Championship series.  

"It watches like a traditional sport. There's a ball, two goals, and two different-colored teams," he said. "You might watch it and think it looks really simple, but then you get a controller in your hand and it's a different story." 

That's what Jordan thought at first, but has since mastered the game.  

"I wasn't inherently good at it and that bothered me, so I started playing more and more and became a student of the game," he said. "And then I started working with some pro players and learning from them as well."  

Figuring out new challenges like that is enjoyable for Jordan, he said, and it's something he often does at his full-time job as a Unit Operator for the DTE power plant in St. Clair. 

"I like working there. I like making power and problem solving. It's like a big puzzle and I feel like I do it pretty well," he said. "I love coaching and managing as well, and I do wish I could solely coach and manage, but I don't mind staying busy. I actually prefer it."  

Jordan graduated from Capac High School in 2008 and went on to Henry Ford College for its power engineering program, and then was hired by DTE in 2012. During his senior year of high school, however, Jordan got his start with a computer science class at SC4. 

"I still use a lot of what I learned in that class to this day," he said.  

The class taught him a lot about Microsoft Excel, he said, and he uses the program to import data from his games and create graphs to analyze and compare himself and his players to other players across the country.  

"My theory with coaching has always been that the people who want to be a part of the team already play the game, sometimes even obsessively," Jordan said. "I'm good as a player, but I always let the kids be the subject matter expert. I just try to help them be the best they can be whether it's through analytics, replay review, or changing the way they think about the game."  

During their first season, the Skippers had seven team members who divided into two groups, with four playing Rocket League and three playing Smash. The team made it to the Grand Final for doubles in Smash, and sophomore Jarod Graham finished in the top four for singles. 

"My team was purely assembled by people who just reached out and were interested," Jordan said. "We had pretty small numbers to start, but we had great success."  

Jordan said he believes SC4 is on the cutting edge with Esports, as many schools don't offer it, and he hopes to expand the program.  

"I went to SC4 when I was in high school and grew up in Capac, and I've always wanted to see this grow in develop in my own area," he said. "I think you're going to see a lot of colleges getting on board with this in the near future."