Interview with UK Rocket League player Speed on Team Liquid’s new training facilities: ‘The support is just worlds apart from other teams’

Image credit: DreamHack/Liquipedia

British Rocket League player Jack ‘Speed’ Packwood-Clarke is a promising young talent, having won the World Showdown of Esports major last year.

He’s now playing for Team Liquid, who have just unveiled their impressive new 1,060m² Alienware Training Facility in Utrecht. We ask Speed for his thoughts on the new facilities, the current state of Rocket League esports and his career so far.

Please introduce yourself and tell us about your background. How did you first get into gaming?

Hi, my real name is Jack and I live in the farmland of the UK. I got involved in gaming when I got a Nintendo DS as a present. I started as a console gamer, but now I’m more into PC games.

The first game I played was Mario Kart or Super Mario 64, I played both during the same time.

Please tell us about how you first got into Rocket League in particular and when you knew you could reach the pro level? Was the Gfinity Elite Series your first real break?

I first got into the game because it was free on PlayStation and my friends were playing it. They really pushed me to get the game and I didn’t really like it in the beginning. This was during season 1.

I came back to season 3 because I was super bored with other games and suddenly I was addicted to it. When I hit top 10 on PlayStation I thought I had a chance to take this more seriously, then I switched to PC. And yeah, the Gfinity Elite Series was my first real break. 

What do you think of the new Team Liquid training facilities?

I’ve been here for a month now and I absolutely love it! It’s the reason I just don’t wanna go home anymore [laughs]. I love everything about it. 

Will you be based in Utrecht or just fly out to the facilities at certain periods, for scrims for example?

This is still to be decided for all the players and staff. We just haven’t worked this out yet and are testing things out. 

What has it been like being a part of Team Liquid since joining, in comparison to other teams you’ve played for?

The support is just worlds apart. Two completely different levels, like night and day. The support is 24/7 and it’s ridiculously good. 

Do you have much interaction with the other Team Liquid teams and players, or has it mainly been with the Rocket League team?

Yes I’ve become very good friends with the Dota team in general. We spent a lot of time together since they are staying here too. Playing games with them in down time too, it’s been amazing.

The Team Liquid Valorant guys are here now too and they are super chill as well. 

What dishes are you looking forward to trying out from the facility’s full-time chef? Have you noticed eating/sleeping/exercising well makes a difference when it comes to playing esports at the top level?

Whatever they throw at me, I’m not a picky eater. I eat anything and I’ll like it. And when it comes to eating/sleeping/exercise routines, it really helps a lot.

I feel like I played my best when I was eating more healthy, more plant-based food. I had more energy and played better as a result.

Exercise also makes you happier and therefore a better teammate. In general it makes a big difference. 

What are your thoughts on the state of the RLCS, the other teams/your competition and the state of Rocket League esports at the moment?

I like the format and the system, minus the single elim in BO5 quarter finals. Other than that it’s a really good system and Rocket League is in a stable position to grow right now.  

The UK has produced some big names and players in Rocket League, why do you think that’s the case compared to other games where we don’t have that many pro players (like CSGO and Dota, for example)?

This is because of the football background and esports is fairly new to the UK in general.

Esports is becoming more of a mainstream thing and Rocket League is a fairly easy game to pick up as a beginner. And Rocket Leauge has had UK support for a long time.

What’s been your memorable moment in competitive Rocket League so far?

Winning WSOE, winning a major event is the best feeling ever. I should have retired after winning, since it was the first LAN I went to and won the whole thing [laughs]. 

What are your thoughts on Rocket League going free-to-play and the other changes Epic are making? Do you think we’ll see more esports talent coming through in the future, now that it’s free?

I never really gave it much thought. But at the same time I think it has a lot of potential to be very successful. The sky’s the limit.

I don’t think we’ll see more esports talent, but I do think there will be more support when the game gets bigger. The current pro players are already playing for three years, so we have to wait a while to actually tell if new talent will make it to a pro career when picking up the game right now. 

What are your hopes for the remainder of 2020 and looking ahead to 2021?

LAN! That’s my main hope, give me a place I can go to play Rocket League instead of doing everything online.

I want to have the thrill of playing on LAN again. From a team perspective, we just wanna get back to the level we were in April and May, and we definitely know we have it in us to get there. 

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Nothing major.

You can follow Speed on Twitter here and Team Liquid here

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.