Rams Esports has max confidence ahead of season

RIO RANCHO — The final bell of the afternoon rings at Rio Rancho High School and a small cadre of students makes their way down the now-empty hallways, laughing and shoving one another, as teenagers are known to do.

These teenagers – clad in hoodies and t-shirts with colorful images of PlayStation characters and witty slogans like “Classically Trained” above images of old Nintendo controllers – are on their way to practice. But for this particular group, “practice” looks just a little bit different than it does for most kids.

This is an eclectic group of competitors. The team consists of expert go-kart racers and card players, fighters and plumbers, drivers, ball players and axe-wielding trolls.

This is the 2025 RRHS Rams varsity esports team and they are ready for battle.

It’s a good thing too, because their season kicks off in two weeks.

The group of teens quiets down as they approach their practice arena, a room on the bottom floor of the Fine Arts Building at RRHS. They file in and take their well-known positions like athletes taking the field.

The room is elongated with a desk stretching down one side. The surface is stuffed with monitors, keyboards, joysticks, and headphones.

At one end of the room sits a massive flatscreen television. Cords protrude from it like a hospital patient on life support.

At the other end is a small dry-erase board. It’s covered in names of people, video game titles, times, codes and inside info known only to the initiated.

The monitors go on. The game systems ignite. The laughter and teasing returns.

At the front of it all, standing quietly, arms folded in a stance of firm relaxation, is Rams Esports head coach (and former team member) Ezra Alvarado.

There are 16 members on the Rams squad and several play numerous games, but Alvarado says they’re always looking for more players.

“There are more games, but we didn’t have enough players for those,” he says. “’Street Fighter’ was added this year, but we just didn’t have time to get a team together for that one.”

The New Mexico Activities Association (NMAA) occasionally adds new titles to its list of approved games for esports competition. They announced in December that “Overwatch”, a “Fortnight”-esque, fantasy, first-person shooter (FPS), will be added to the approved list for the 2026 season.

As of now, the Rams compete in three games: “League of Legends”, “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” and “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”.

Alvarado says he’d like to get more kids involved, not just for the team’s sake, but also because of the numerous benefits esports can offer to teenagers.

According to a 2015 Pew Research Report, “The inclusiveness and accessibility of esports allow students to come together over a common passion while providing access to a positive adult mentor in their lives.”

Alvarado knows about that community-building firsthand. He’s coached the Rams esports squad for three years, since he graduated from RRHS in 2022. While at the school, he was a varsity Smash Bros. and Mario Kart player.

“We did pretty well,” he says. “I think my senior year, we got fifth in Smash Bros. and third in Mario Kart.”

Now, he helms the team he once played for, getting them ready for the grueling season ahead.

The first competition kicks off on Jan. 27 and the season wraps up Mar. 21. Esports playoffs, hosted by the NMAA, run Mar. 24-Apr.12.

The championship and playoffs will be streamed at nfhsnetwork.com starting Mar. 24.

All regular season competitions take place online, with teams located at their physical schools during play.

“It gets pretty competitive,” says Alvarado of the atmosphere in the room during competitions. “Theres a lot of team-based back-and-forth (with the “League of Legends” team). With “Smash Bros.,” (the coach’s role is) watching what the opponents are doing and keeping the team updated.”

There are three regular season competitions a week, but not everyone plays every day. “League of Legends” plays on Tuesdays. Wednesdays are for “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”. When Thursday rolls around, it’s the “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” team’s time to shine.

PlayVS, an online platform specializing in hosting prep esports programs, handles competition logistics.

According to an email from PlayVS, the regular season games are not streamed live at this time, but teams are permitted to stream the games themselves as long as all participating teams agree.

The end of the year championship, however, takes place in one location, the Berna Facio Professional Development Center in Albuquerque.

Only the top four “League of Legends” teams in each district make the final bracket. Only five “Smash Bros.” teams get in, and only eight “Mario Kart” teams advance.

Rio Rancho hasn’t won the state title since the first year of official competition in 2019, so Alvarado has his work cut out for him.

His team isn’t the least bit concerned. They say they got this.

Truman Zamzok and Carlos Martinez are the Rams’ top two “Samsh Bros.” players. They sit just feet from the massive wide screen television, the colors reflecting off their glowing faces.

“Pretty easy, I’d say,” Zamzok says confidently when asked about the competition they’ll be facing this season. “Especially with this guy on the team.”

He throws a thumb out in the direction of his partner, Martinez.

“He’s the best player in the state,” Zamzok says without a hint of doubt or humor.

Martinez continues to stare at the screen, his thumbs flying wildly over the controller.

“That’s right,” Martinez replies without missing a beat.

Zamzok and Martinez say they’re ready for the games to begin, and so is the rest of the team.

“I’m just looking forward to winning,” says Zamzok.

“Yeah, beating the other team, that’s what I’m looking forward to most,” says Martinez.

The two will get their chance when the season kicks off Tuesday, Jan. 28.

Visit rrobserver.com for updates and results.

{span style=”text-decoration: underline;”}RRHS 2025 ESPORTS ROSTER{/span}

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate:

Noah Rayl

Weldon Phillips

Truman Zamzok

Darian Foster

Carlos Martinez

Jose Irizarry Hurtado

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (JV):

Nicolas Cuccio

Brayden Johns

Brad Sanchez

Darian Foster

Joshua Kalka

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe:

Camillia Cnare

Victoria Phillips

Truman Zamzok

Weldon Phillips

Jose Irizarry Hurtado

Nicolas Cuccio

Petra Ginther

League of Legends:

Donovan Phillips

Evan Quinlivan

Trey Kurka

Brayden Johns

Brody Duggin

Evan Dodson

{span style=”text-decoration: underline;”}2025 SPRING MATCHDAY SCHEDULE{/span}

Tuesdays: League of Legends, Splatoon 3, Street Fighter 6

Wednesdays: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, NBA 2K24

Thursdays: Rocket League, Madden NFL 24, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Hearthstone