Esports teens turn up the heat for a Navy screen challenge at LA Fleet Week

Think of it as soccer — but with cars rather than a ball.

Welcome to the newest (and maybe the loudest) game that debuted under a tent at the 10th annual LA Fleet Week on Saturday, May 24.

Day 2 of LA Fleet Week kicked off with booths and demonstrations doing brisk business along San Pedro’s waterfront as gates opened at 10 a.m. Ship tours also were ongoing and festivities will continue through Monday, May 26, with details at lafleetweek.com/.

It all came with the usual fanfare — live stage music and performances, patriotic displays, and demonstrations of the latest military equipment rolled out by the U.S. Navy, Marines, Army and Coast Guard.

But it was hard to miss the occasional bursts of deafening shouts deafening cheers coming from the “Goats and Glory” tent where bleachers of enthusiastic coaches, fans and family members cheered on the high school screen warriors competing for scholarship money as they climbed the ranks to compete with the top Navy screen gamers.

The four-member Downey High team exploded in cheers as they triumphed in a first round against Franklin High in Los Angeles, part of the Rocket League.

The experience, said player Fernando Aredalo, a junior who also plays soccer at Downey, was intense as they competed in an early round for the $1,500 per player in scholarship money. But it was only Round One. Navy Esports challenge continues from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 24, at LA Fleet Week.

As the teams broke for lunch, Fleet Week continued to ramp up for the day with guests trying their hand at stations that tested their skill at pull-ups and gave others a chance to pose for family photo ops hoisting the latest in military rifles as they also donned military helmets, vests and other gear pulled on over their California T-shirts, shorts and sneakers.

Daniel and Anna Santamaria of Los Angeles — with 2-year-old daughter Elsie — meanwhile had just arrived for what would be their first visit to an LA Fleet Week. Daniel said he wanted to see “where our tax money is going.”

At a nearby booth, U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Konnor Keller and U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Mark Carlos were answering questions and handing out literature at a booth for Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron One out of Port Hueneme, CA, Naval Base in Ventura County.

Among the four visiting ships at this year’s LA Fleet Week is the USS Mariner (OUSV-4), the newest and largest of the Navy’s unmanned vessels that is based in San Diego. It is on display during its Fleet Week visit but not available for boarding.

Also visiting LA Fleet Week for the first time were Pete and Colleen Tortorice from the Bay Area.

They were house sitting for friends in San Pedro and decided to check it out as Pete was a Navy veteran having served two tours of duty (1972 and 1973) in Vietnam. The couple also lived in Navy housing in San Pedro during that time.

They were taking in the expo before their 2 p.m. online reservation to tour one of the ships in the Outer Harbor.

Both came from military families that spanned World Wars I and II, the Korean War and Vietnam.

But Vietnam was a distinctly hard war for veterans and their families — and the nation — to recover from, the couple said.

It took several years, they said, for men returning from Vietnam to get resettled and become established in new careers once they came home.