CREDIT: ALEX ALLAN
The FUEL R6 team went two wins and two losses in their standings for the first stage playoffs of the summer league. They currently have one win in the second stage.

A couple Fanshawe Ultimate Esport League (FUEL) teams have been training over the summer to prepare for the 2023/24 academic year. The Rainbow Six Siege (R6) team joined the CollegiateR6 (CR6) league and have moved on to the second stage. Some FUEL players from the Canadian College Call of Duty (CCCL) summer showcase league, hosted by the ExtraCreddyPodcast, are also moving onto the second stage of the summer season. This was not the R6 team’s first plan to join a summer league but James “Purzaa” Perez, captain of FUEL’s R6 team, found the CR6 is holding a summer league and the whole team from the 2022/23 academic year spring semester was available to play. Perez is in the graphic design program at Fanshawe and is excited to use this summer league to see potential in other players.

“We are also trying out new players for the teams, make sure to be on the lookout for try-out dates,” Perez said.

The R6 team went two wins and two losses in their standings for the first stage playoffs of the summer league. They currently have one win in the second stage.


“We are looking to keep this momentum going in the second stage,” Perez said.

He is hoping to improve in team competitions and work on implementing strategies out there in the matches. He also said that he would like to build some team chemistry with the new players who are joining the FUEL R6 squad in the fall.

“I think the team is improving drastically,” he said. “We are testing new waters with players, so I can’t say what the team is capable of yet but we are looking quite strong.”

Perez mentioned that there are also some improvements he is also wanting to make personally while training in the summer league.

“I’m looking to work on my skills and what I have to offer for the game,” he said. “I strive to become one of the best team captains/leaders that fuel has to offer and potentially bring another trophy on our belts in the fall semester.”

He was named captain of the year from the 2022/23 academic year FUEL awards.

Two players from the FUEL Call of Duty (CoD) team are battling in the lower chance qualifiers (LCQ) for stage two in the CCCL summer showcase league. Only three teams from the LCQ will move on to the playoffs, beginning around the first week of August.

Jake “Bonk” Deneau, team captain of Team Bonk, is sitting at the top with two wins and zero losses in the LCQ. Matteo “Bosfrost” Bos, who is on Team Gxen is also in the LCQ. Team Bonk and Team Gxen faced each other in the LCQ, having the two FUEL players battling against each other to see who will survive from the LCQ. Bonks’ team did walk away winning 3-0 in the best out of three match-up. Team Gxen sit at the bottom of the LCQ standings with one win and one loss. 

A former Fanshawe FUEL CoD player is also competing in the CCCL summer showcase league. Sacha “Puppz” Kurucz who is a graduate from Fanshawe’s Police Foundations and Protection, Security and Investigation program plays on Team Narcissist in the CCCL summer league. Kurucz played in the 2021/22 academic year back when it was CoD Coldwar and CoD Vanguard. He mentioned that he loves playing CoD.

“It is probably one of the only games that I play to be honest,” Kurucz said. Since he graduated in 2022, he was unable to play in CoD Modern Warfare 2 for the 2022/23 academic year but CCCL gave him the opportunity to play in the summer league.

Kurucz’s team is doing very well in the CCCL summer showcase league. They finished with four wins and zero losses in the group stage and won their first seeded match leaving them with five wins and zero losses.

“I was very fortunate to be drafted by the player Narcissist who I have good chemistry with,” Kurucz said.

However, he mentioned that a player from Team Narcissist is no longer able to play and they will have a substitute in for the remainder of the league.

“In a league like this, if you can get a solid production out of all four of your players you’re going to have a lot of success and that has shown so far with our team,” he said.

Kurucz has noticed some differences after competing in collegiate versus non-collegiate leagues. He said that the biggest thing he noticed is the skill difference.

“Other leagues have so much more skilled rosters since you can pick from anyone in the world to form a roster compared to collegiate teams,” he said.

Kurucz also emphasized the thing that Esports and regular sports is the rivalries and familiarity among the people involved. “Playing collegiate CoD, you are familiar with almost everyone in the league, especially on the Canadian side of players,” Kurucz said. “It makes matches way more enjoyable to play and even watch because you know the other people you’re playing against. You don’t get this aspect from other leagues playing with random people and personally I find that’s what makes sports and Esports so entertaining.”

Even though Kurucz is not a student at Fanshawe anymore, he is still quite active with the FUEL CoD team.

“FUEL CoD had a pretty rough season this past year, there’s no question about that,” he said. The FUEL team finished just outside the top ten for the Canadian power rankings, but two teams dropped out too which did not give the FUEL team the realistic place they would be in for the power rankings.

“I truly believe they are better than what they showed this year,” Kurucz said. “Team Captain Bonk alone is enough to win series matches and the supportive cast behind him are also very solid enough to hold their own weight as well.”

The team struggled in the 2022/23 academic year with roster changes and other mishaps that did not benefit towards end results of their season. 

“I believe going forward they can move past all of that and try to get back to where Fanshawe was in the 2022 season,” Kurucz said.

The fall season is right around the corner for FUEL but there are two main improvements Kurucz wants to see with the FUEL CoD team.

“Going into this next year I want to see FUEL establish a four-set team early on in the season and get in consistent scrims with that squad,” he said.

Kurucz mentioned that lack of scrimmages and fielding a set four was the two main reasons why they didn’t succeed last season.

“One of the biggest things that sets teams apart is how much they play as a squad together. It’s as simple as that,” Kurucz said.

He’s interested to see how this summer league will help some of the FUEL players and to see how things will pan out during the fall try-outs.