All the results from the 15th Mpumulanga Championships

Nadine Swart - Tekken Tag

The 15^thMpumulanga Championships held  on 28 & 29 May 2016 went off without a hitch.

HTS Witbank once again proved to be a wonderful host, under the guidance of Louis Brown (the Provincial Director) and MSSA's umpires (Ryan Boyes, Morizane Boyes, and Ewan Retief).

Eleven clubs from three provinces participated in the event which enormously increased the level of competition and excitement.

With the Mpumulanga Championships being the last championship before the National Team Trials to be held on 4 June 2016 (at St John's College, Houghton, Johannesburg), some players were desperate to do there last minute preparations for such National Team Trials.

The National Team Trials are to select South Africa's official Protea eSports Team to attend IeSF's 8th World  Championships to be held in Jakarta in October 2016.

Needless to say, the Mpumulanga Championships were the most enjoyable championships held by MSSA this year.

Of course, certain players deserve special mention…

In Morabaraba, Nombulelo Gavin, of Fakkel School inn Sasolburg, continued with her winning ways. After having won the Fezile Dabi Regional Championships on 11 May 2016, Nombulelo romped home to take first place, and to earn Free State Provincial Colours for herself in the process.

There is no doubt that Nombelelo will go far.

In League of Legends, Team Vapour, from Sasolburg High, continued to stamp their authority on the game. Having won the North West Provincial Championships, the Online Schools Championships, as well as having finished third in the Online provincial Championships, the school team romped home to victory in Mpumulanga to take yet another title.

Team Vapour has thus become the first team in South Africa to take all three such titles.

In FIFA, Kyle Turnbull, of HTS Witbank, has again proven his worth. It seems as though Kyle just can not be beaten. Kyle remains unbeaten in Provincial and National Championships in South Africa for the successive third year in a row. Truly Kyle is setting the standard for FIFA.

Likewise, Baber Abbas, in Tekken Tag Tournament and Street Fighter V, is the man to beat. Baber too remains unbeaten in official events.

The winners are:

Title	Name of player/team	Club	Colours awarded
Ancients (DBM)	Colin Webster	Old Edwardian Wargames Club	Gauteng Provincial
Checkers (female)	Tie: Sonja Brown & Lucille Brown	All Stars	Mpumalanga Provincial
Checkers	Khahliso Malape	Fakkel School	Free State Provincial
CounterStrike: GO	HGH	Hoerskool Generaal Hertzog	Mpumulanga Provincial
FIFA '16	Kyle Turnbull	HTS Witbank	Mpumalanga Provincial
League of Legends	Team Vapour	Sasolburg High School	awarded at North West
Morabaraba (female)	Nombulelo Gavin	Fakkel School	Free State Provincial
Morabaraba	Mukhathutshelo Masheleni	Fakkel School
Mortal Kombat X (female)	Sune van de Merwe	HTS Witbank	Mpumalanga Provincial
Mortal Kombat X	Jan-Hendrik van Aswegen	Hoerskool Generaal Hertzog	Mpumalanga Provincial
PES 2016	Tie: Tumi Mohosho & Richard Ferreira	Fakkel School
StarCraft II	Gideon Hefer	Knights Mind Sports Club	Gauteng Provincial
Street Fighter V	Baber Abbas	Tekken Guru	awarded at Gauteng
Street Fighter (High School)	Mpho Ntsala	Fakkel School
Street Fighter V (female)	Sune van de Merwe	HTS Witbank	Mpumulanga Provincial
Tekken Tag Tournament II	Baber Abbas	Tekken Guru	awarded at Gauteng
Tekken Tag Tournament II (High School)	Pieter Lourens	Hoerskool Generaal Hertzog
Tekken Tag Tournament II (female)	Nadine Swart	Knights Mind Sports Club

Last chance for players to qualify for the eSports National Team Trials - 4 June 2016

Please note that 15th Mpumulanga Championships is the last chance for players to qualify for the eSports National Team Trials to be held on 4 June 2016 at St John's College, Houghton.

The 15th Mpumulanga Championships is at HTS Witbank.

HTS WITBANK Hoof ingang
10 Beyers street
Die Heuwel
Witbank
1035
GPS (degrees & minutes) :
S25 52.058 E29 13.828

What does MSSA have to offer South African gamers?

MSSA offers a huge amount to South African competitive gamers.

It has taken years to get the government and older sports bodies to take gaming seriously. To give you an example, in 1987 when MSSA requested to become affiliated to the Confederation of South African Sport (COSAS), the request was initially denied. By sheer perseverance and determination (allied with strong arguments), COSAS finally acceded to the MSSA’s request and granted the MSSA membership into the greater body of sport. This was indeed a huge triumph as the Springbok Colours Board also accepted MSSA as a result thereof and granted Springbok Colours to the MSSA’s team. Through careful politicking, the MSSA also joined the anti-establishment National Olympic Committee of South Africa (NOCSA) and formed a firm friendship with the late Bill Jardim.

As a result of being an affiliate of both COSAS and NOCSA, the MSSA was able to contribute to the equalisation of sport in South Africa and has been an affiliate of every macro sport body in South Africa since then, such as:

• The National Sports Council (1994 to 1999)

• The South African Sports Commission (1999 to 2002), and

• The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) 

With such recognition comes total accreditation of eSports as a sport. 

Protea Colours have been awarded since 1994 to deserving teams which represent South Africa in international events.

Some gamers may scoff at the fact that Protea Colours are now awarded, but they are those who have never experienced the joy and full benefits of being part of that select few that have officially represented South Africa overseas.

Apart from Protea Colours, there are National, Provincial, and Provincial School colours that can be earned. Allied to the colours awarded by the MSSA, there are the sporting colours that are awarded by both Universities and Schools alike. There too are the bursaries for which well deserving gamers can apply. The amounts differ from university to university, but such bursaries make a substantial difference to the costs of studying at university.

Other benefits include National Lottery Funding, the improved ability of obtaining sponsorship, local government support, and most importantly… having a voice to direct the future of eSports.

With MSSA being an Universitas all clubs that are fully-paid-up members have rights in voting on issues and have the right to propose issues. This means that the gamer actually takes control over the games which they play and love. MSSA is NOT a monolithic structure and has to comply with the wishes of the majority of its members.

Thus whatever MSSA does, it is because the majority of the membership wish it to be done so.

In this way MSSA is unique. MSSA is not driven by market forces and by pursuing profits at every turn, but is instead driven by what its membership wants.

Get your application in - ASAP!

The Wits Wargames Club can trace its origins back to 1979.

Back then a few avid gamers got together with their wargames figurines, board games, Ataris, and Sinclairs to found the Wits Wargames Club at the University of the Witwatersrand.

The club then proved to be the foundation for the creation of the Transvaal Wargames Association and ultimately for Mind Sports South Africa itself.

The club has over the  years produced many a player for the National Protea Teams, and, as a result, many a Witsie has earned their 'Blues' for representing the country.

Not only have Witsies represented the country with pride, but they too have participated in the management of eSports on a local, national and even international level.

Thus, it is once again time for top gamers to get their nominations in for a sports bursary.

Details for such bursary may be found on: https://www.wits.ac.za/media/wits-university/students/wits-sport/documents/2016%20Application%20Form.pdf

The state of South African eSports

Unbelievably there are gamers who would prefer to go  to the local event held at The Dome than would try out for the National Protea eSports Team because;

1. The event is at the same time as the 8th IeSF World Championships - Jakarta, and
2. Such players think that they can win and thereby earn a new computer. 

Both of the above two reasons show the real state of South African gaming.

The two reasons show that South African gaming is still in its infancy.

South Africans would rather  play among themselves than test  their metal against foreign competition. This may be due to players not having any faith in themselves, or that they, as yet, do not take gaming seriously enough to see if they are able to compete against players from other countries.

It also shows that South African  gamers choose the 'quick-and-easy' path over the more difficult road to international competition.

Why spend years developing players when you can take the short-cut and get instant gratification. Of course it is less rewarding, but at least you have a chance of winning it!

Then of course, there is  the lack of commitment.

In all other sports athletes commit a great deal of time and own resources in the pursuit of excellence.

Not so with many gamers, much must be free and paid for....

Gamers, to be truly competitive, must be single-minded in their approach, and tough - really tough, if they want to make it in competitive gaming.

Please read: http://esportscommentator.blogspot.co.za/2015/02/so-you-want-top-be-pro-gamer.html

WCA 2016 promotes e-sports in China

South Africa's Thomas Brown opening the WCA2016

The World Cyber Arena 2016 (WCA2016) China and APAC Pro Qualifiers Season 1 (S1) finals took place at the China National Tennis Center in Beijing on May 21.

Fifty-seven players in teams from China, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia and Philippines won in the six official games, including CS:GO, Hearthstone, Dota II, StarCraftII, Warcraft 3, and COS, have advanced to WCA2016 global finals that will be held in Yinchuan, capital of northwestern China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region this December.

The event was opened by Thomas Brown (from All Stars Club, Witbank, South Africa) who is the first South African to referee an international eSports event on foreign soil.

The WCA, held by Yinchuan government and Yinchuan International Game Investment Co Ltd, is an international e-sports event that has been held thrice. Under the slogan "Hero's Arena, Player's Dreamland", it is committed to promoting the developments of e-sports events and the sector and attracting more people to participate in e-sports.

China's e-sports sector has boomed in recent years under positive policy and social environment. The number of e-sports users has reached 124 million and the output value of the e-sports sector has reached 27 billion yuan by the end of 2015, and the overall market of e-sports in China is expected to exceed 50 billion yuan in the future, according to the 2015 China e-sports Game Analysis Report released by iResearch, a Chinese consultancy company.

According to WCA spokesman Li Yanfei, the E-Sports industry has a large amount of enthusiastic young fans that should not be underestimated.

As the titled sponsor of WCA2016, Lesports of LeEco Holdings Co, enters the field to create an e-sport ecosystem, Lei Zhenjian, founder and Chief Executive said with the government's positive promotion and capital pouring into the sector, e-sports is rapidly rising in China.

"The standards and business model of e-sports still needs to mature. And as a young sector, e-sports has diverse possibilities in its profitability," said Lei.

1st Fezile Dabi Regional Championship - a success!

Winners - one and all!

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is dedicated to development.

Thus MSSA has a programme of hosting championships in as many of South Africa's regions as possible.

Clubs are encouraged to buy-into the programme by hosting the events and to profit from such events through earning entrance fees, obtaining press, and discovering new members.

The most recent of the Regional Championships was the 1st Fezile Dabi Regional Championship was hosted by Fakkel School, Sasolburg on 14 & 15 May 2016

Leonard Loftus of the club, Masters of eSport, excelled himself by running a top-class event.

The event had 61 contestants battle it out to see who would walk away with Regional  Colours and the eligibility to enter the National Team Trials.

The winners are:

Title	Name of player/team	Club	Colours awarded
Checkers	Khahliso Malape	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Regional
Checkers (female)	Lucille Brown	All Stars	Fezile Dabi Schools
Morabaraba – Premier	Kamohelo Tladi	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Regional
Morabaraba – High Schools	Thabang Kumi	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Schools
Morabaraba (female)	Nombulelo Gavin	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Regional
PES 2016 – Premier	Tumi Mohosho	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Regional
PES 2016 – High School	Sibusiso Nabilevo	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Schools
FIFA '16 – Premier	Richard Ferrera	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Regional
FIFA '16 – High Schools	Kamohelo Tladi	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Schools
Mortal Kombat X – Premier	Joost Loftus	Masters of eSport	Fezile Dabi Regional
Mortal Kombat X – High School	Mpho Ntsala	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Schools
Mortal Kombat X (female)	Leoné Loftus	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Regional
Street Fighter V – Premier	Joost Loftus	Masters of eSport	Fezile Dabi Regional
Street Fighter V – High School	Sibusiso Nabilevo	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi Schools

Changes to MSSA's Calendar of Events

Please note changes to the official Calendar of Events.

2016 Calendar of events

Date	Event	Discipline	Venue
6 FEB	SOUTH AFRICA vs GHANA	FIFA '16	On-line
13 & 14 FEB	OE Summer Championships	Ancients (600pts), Draughts, Morabaraba	Blue Room, Old Edwardian Society, 11 Ninth Ave, Lower Houghton, Jhb
16 FEB	Closing date for On-line Inter-school Provincial Championships	CS:GO, DotA, FIFA, HearthStone, LOL, SC, TTT II	Admin
20 FEBRUARY	On-line Inter-school Provincial Championships	CS:GO, DotA, FIFA, HearthStone, LOL, SC, TTT II	On-line
5 & 6 MARCH	20th NORTH WEST Championships	All	St Conrad's College, Klerksdorp
26 & 27 MARCH	33rd GAUTENG Championships	All	Tuks, University of Pretoria
9 & 10 APRIL	Provincial School Championships	Board and Figure games	Gauteng: Old Edwardian Society, Jhb Mapumulanga: HTS Witbank
16 APRIL	Provincial Online Championships	Dota 2, CounterStrike GO, League of Legends, Street Fighter V	On-line
14 & 15 MAY	Fezile Dabi Regional Championships	All	Fakkel High School, Sasolburg
28 & 29 MAY	15th MPUMALANGA Championships	Board games, eSports, Wargames	HTS Witbank, Witbank
28 MAY	FINANCIAL AGM	MeetingHTS Witbank, Witbank	HTS Witbank, Witbank
4 JUNE	Esports National Team Trials	CS:GO, DotA, FIFA, HearthStone, LOL, SC, TTT II	St John's College, Johannesburg
18 & 19 JUNE	Riverview Preparatory Wargames Club	Flames of War	Riverview Prep. Malelane.
25 & 26 JUNE	13th FREE STATE Championships	Board games eSports Wargames	Fakkel School, Sasolburg
9 & 10 JULY	22nd KWAZULU NATAL Championships	Board games eSports Wargames	Maritzburg College, Pietermaritzburg
23 JULY	City of Johannesburg Regional Championships	* Ancients 200AP (DBM v3.2) * FIFA '16, * Morabaraba * Tekken Tag Tournament II	Blue Room, Old Edwardian Society, 11 Ninth Ave, Lower Houghton, Jhb
30 & 31 JULY	SA School Championships	Board, Figure and eSports	Parklands College, Cape Town
13 AUGUST	StarCraft II, Hearthstone	eSports (PC)	On-line
27 & 28 AUGUST	21st WESTERN CAPE Championships	Board games eSports Wargames	TBA
TBA	Indigenous Games	Morabaraba	To be determined by SRSA
24 & 25 SEPTEMBER	16th EASTERN CAPE Championships	Board games eSports Wargames	TBA
6 – 9 OCTOBER	8th IeSF World Championships	CounterStrike: GO, League of Legends, Hearthstone	Ancol Beach Auditorium, Jakarta, Indonesia.
29 & 30 OCTOBER	6th LIMPOPO Championships	Board games eSports Wargames	TBA
3 & 4 DECEMBER	30th S A NATIONAL Championships	Board games eSports Wargames	TBA
4 DECEMBER	33rd NATIONAL CONVENTION	Annual General Meeting	As per 30th S A NATIONAL Championships
TBA	SRSA's S A Schools Championships	Morabaraba	To be determined by SRSA

Notes:

1. International events still need to be included.
2. Inter-Provincial events need to be included
3. Inter-regional events need to be included
4. Club events need to be included
5. Regional Championships need to be included.
6. Free State is moved to earlier in the year.
7. National Team Trials still need to be included