Monday 30 April 2018

StarCraft II: The full list of qualifiers.

Chis Cronjé (Fragcon) - Limpopo Provincial Champion for StarCraft II.
Unfortunately the International Esports Federation (IESF) has not held StarCraft II at its World Championships since 2015 (Seoul). Nevertheless, Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) remains ever hopeful, and in that hope, still  offers the StarCraft II esports title as a competitive period.Thus with only 1 senior Provincial esports championships left before MSSA's 2018 National Team Trials (NTT) which are to be held on 2 & 3 June 2018, the race is on to see who will be selected.

According to Mind Sports South Africa's Esports Representative, Ryan Boyes, no fewer than 65 registered players have so far qualified to participate in MSSA's 2018 National Team Trials even though there are still two more championships to be played.

The names below represent the registered players that have qualified in the period from 1 May 2017 to 31 March 2018 and are considered for determining the process  in which province such  National Team Trials shall be held.

There is one remaining event in which registered players may qualify, being: 

Already,the International Esports Federation (IESF) has announced the various esports titles to be played, being:

However, IESF may add a fourth title for the 10th World Championships to be played in Kaohsuing City. Until the fourth title is announced, MSSA will treat all the other titles as prospective titles.

The list for the esports title of  
StarCraft II is:


# Name of player Club Period/title Province
1 Pieter Piek Blue Dragon Star Craft II Gauteng
2 Aiden Smale ZAG Star Craft II Gauteng
3 Carl van Staden Blue Dragon Star Craft II Gauteng
4 Chis Cronjé Fragcon Star Craft II Limpopo
5 Brendan Botma Fragcon Star Craft II Limpopo
6 Riaan van Staden Fragcon Star Craft II Limpopo
7 Kaira Gabrielle Pinard Valhalla Star Craft II Gauteng
8 Beon Bronkhorst Masters of Mind Sports Star Craft II Free State
9 Joshua Goldin Blue Dragon Star Craft II Gauteng
10 Devon Morris Blue Dragon Star Craft II Gauteng
11 Bernd Pfander Blue Dragon Star Craft II Gauteng
12 Cleveland Crossling Northcliff High School Star Craft II Gauteng

Registered Players that have earned a berth at MSSA's 2018 National Team Trials (NTT) are:

The final lists are:

HearthStone: The full list of qualifiers.

Kaira Gabrielle Pinard (Valhalla) - South African National Champion.
According to Mind Sports South Africa's Esports Representative, Ryan Boyes, no fewer than 65 registered players have so far qualified to participate in MSSA's 2018 National Team Trials even though there are still two more championships to be played.

The names below represent the registered players that have qualified in the period from 1 May 2017 to 31 March 2018 and are considered for determining the process  in which province such  National Team Trials shall be held.

There is one remaining event in which registered players may qualify, being: 

Already,the International Esports Federation (IESF) has announced the various esports titles to be played, being:

However, IESF may add a fourth
 title for the 10th World Championships to be played in Kaohsuing City. Until the fourth title is announced, MSSA will treat all the other titles as prospective titles.

The list for the esports title of HearthStone is:



# Name of player Club Period/title Province
1 Adele Janse van Rensburg Generation X HearthStone Gauteng
2 Pieter Lourens Höerskool Generaal Hertzog HearthStone Mpumalanga
3 George Griffiths HTS Witbank HearthStone Mpumalanga
4 Beon Bronkhorst JCS Academy HearthStone Free State
5 Gawie Fick Fakkel School of Skills HearthStone Free State
6 Kaira Gabrielle Pinard Valhalla HearthStone Gauteng
7 Orlando Crossling NorthCliff High School HearthStone Gauteng
8 Cobus van der Wath Fakkel School of Skills HearthStone Free State
9 Linda Swanepoel Fakkel School of Skills HearthStone Free State
10 Eugene Pieterse Generation X HearthStone Gauteng

Registered Players that have earned a berth at MSSA's 2018 National Team Trials (NTT) are:

The final lists are:

Sunday 29 April 2018

Vereeniging Gimnasium dominates MSSA's Gauteng Provincial School Championships.

Pierce van der Merwe, William Cronje, and Cayden Naudé - all of Vereeniging Gimnasium.
Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) saw its 19th Annual Gauteng School Provincial Championships  for Board gaming and Wargames hosted byVereeniging Gimnasium on Saturday, 28 April 2018.

Vereeniging Gimnasium proved to be a perfect host, and demonstrated just why it offered to host MSSA's National Team Trials for Esports.

The championships proved to be an exciting affair with learners from Vereeniging Gimnasium dominating the entire event.

It should be noted that MSSA's school provincial championships for Board gaming and Wargames are free to anyy and all learners who go to any school in South Africa.

Thus, even if a school is not affiliated to MSSA, the school is still able to enter teams into such championships.

Just another way that MSSA puts its money where its mouth is in order to further develop the periods for which it is the custodian.


Many of South Africa's top players were first introduced through such provincial championships.

However, never before has the Gauteng School Provincial Championships been so dominated by just one school.

From start to finish Vereeniging Gimnasium dominated the event with all of their participants showing incredible sportsmanship.

With all  three winners having won all their games, three winners not only walked away with the gold, but also High School Provincial Colours.

The winners of the various periods are:
Period Name School Colours
Ancients William Cronje Vereeniging Gimnasium Gauteng School Provincial
Checkers Pierce van der Merwe Vereeniging Gimnasium Gauteng School Provincial
Morabaraba Cayden Naudé Vereeniging Gimnasium Gauteng School Provincial

Thursday 26 April 2018

To host, or not to host!

'Loda' and his team members at the Old Edwardian Society before attending the ACER African Continental Championships
Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) has a long tradition of hosting international events.

Of all the events hosted by MSSA, MSSA has done South Africa proud in each and every event.

The events hosted by MSsA are:

  • 2013 - Silviu  'NightEnd' Lazar's visit to South Africa - Johannesburg
  • 2013 - IWF World Championships - Pretoria
  • 2012 - IWF World Championships - Durban
  • 2008 - ACER African Continental Championships - Johannesburg
  • 2007 - IWF World Championships - Port Elizabeth
  • 2002 - IWF World Championships - Durban
  • 1999 - IWF World Championships - Cape Town
  • 1997 - IWF World Championships - Johannesburg
Anyone involved in getting teams overseas who has been around for a long time will understand how government works and the impact that international events have on increasing membership as well as the burden that such an event puts on the organizers. Often those involved in running an international event exhibit all the signs of burn-out after the event and are sometimes physically ill from the stress and work-load.

The people who do the work are often volunteers who do both their normal jobs as well as other MSSA activities.

Thus to effectively host an event, there needs to be a local team that is going to do most of the work as well as get approval from the Ministry of Sport as well as to get the necessary buy-in from the municipality and the provincial government and/or the provincial sports council.

Thus, with IESF releasing its bidding documents to all member federations, the question has once  again been raised, does South Africa want to host the World Championships for esports?

If MSSA took the decision to put in a bid to host the event, there would also have to be the buy-in from corporate South Africa. Without the buy-in of corporate South Africa, few would have the resources to effectively host a top-of-the-line championships.


Certainly it would be nice to welcome all those foreign players to South Africa, but to do so, there needs to also be a committed local organizing committee prepared to meet all of government's requirements and to meet all the criteria as set down in the bid document.

Hudson Park is on the rise.

Coverage received by the school. 
Mind Sports South Africa's (MSSA's) Ladders provide all teams with the opportunity to improve their abilities in between official Regional, Provincial, and National Championships.

Any school club affiliated to MSSA is allowed to participate in the Ladder at times that suit the club.

Thus the Ladder runs parallel with MSSA to ensure as many schools take part in competitive esports. 

Just another way that MSSA provides the greatest level of assistance at grassroot level.

The  Ladder forms part of the basic infrastructure to further promote esports as an official school sport.

It is thus particularly pleasing to see Hudson Park shooting up the ladder. The young teams from East London are certainly making waves.

The Ladder for the esports title of DotA 2 for schools is:

MSSA's National DotA 2 Ladder
DotA 2 – Schools
PosName of PlayeryearClub
1PC DOTA (17)17Parklands College
2Maritzburg College A17Maritzburg College
3Oakhill [Mr Project]17Oakhill College
4SAHETI DotA217SAHETI
5WBHS/DotA17Westville Boys
6Immortal Forces18Hudson Park
7Grey High Gaming17Grey High School
8[Eagles] MrFancy17St John's
9Team Theory17Oakhill College
10WYSIWYG17Jeppe High School for Boys
11e-Squad18Hudson Park
12Sacred Heart 117SACRED HEART
13HTS Witbank17HTS Witbank
14PRIDE17Parktown Boys
15Northwood DOTA17Northwood High
16MC DOTA17Maritzburg College
17PR0NHS17Northcliff High School
18An Skeletons16Parklands
19Maritzburg College B16Maritzburg College
20SSES DOTA16St Stithians
21SJC Outdoor Decorator16St John's
22Grey High Seconds17Grey High
23Sacred Heart 217SACRED HEART
24HTS Blue16HTS Witbank
25HTS Yellow16HTS Witbank

Other National ladders are: