Rocket League rocketing Onto Muscatine Scene
A new racing league is rocketing onto the scene in Muscatine.
Rocket League will hold its first double-elimination tournament from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Star Collectibles’ Island Speedway, 1109 Grandview Ave, Muscatine.
Tom and Alex Knapper, Sean Stivason and Aaron Burton set up the league a month ago to convert one of their favorite video games — which combines cars and soccer — to reality using remote controlled miniature racing cars.
“We were messing around on the track after a race and thought it would be fun,” Tom said. “We had our first double elimination tournament a few weeks ago. It is based on two-man teams with basically the same rules as hockey and soccer. There are five-minute matches where the two teams face off to see who can score the most goals. If someone breaks, then it’s one against two. If the other teammate breaks then it’s an automatic win for the other team. Surprisingly we didn’t have any breaks in our first tournament, which is pretty good.”
This Sunday at 11 is their second time running the tournament.
“Anyone is welcome to play,” Tom said, “and if there’s only one person we will definitely make sure they have a partner to play.”
The cost is $10 per player, and Tom McCleary, owner of Star Collectibles, has trucks to rent for the event as well for $10.
“Basically our goals for these events are to have fun,” Tom said. “Just like racing, this a hobby for us and we come out to have fun! A big part of racing and RC Rocket League is the chance to go out and meet new people, and have fun with the friends we have raced with for years. We have met hundreds of people over the years by traveling to other states, and other tracks. This is just getting off the ground right now, and we hope it will grow into a big event sometime in the future.”
The group has the basic rules pretty much set, and are tweaking things here and there to make it more fast paced, and fun.
In addition to the big event Sunday, they’ll also be doing some racing at the track from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday.
“And, of course, spectating is always free,” Tom added. “We welcome everyone to come out and watch, and hopefully play the next time they’re out.”
For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/rcrocketleague/
