Hearthstone - Registered Players who qualified at 'Gauteng' for National Team Trials.

Gawie Fick (Fakkel School of Skills)  having won MSSA's 36th Gauteng Provincial Championships has qualified for MSSA's 2018 National Team Trials.

The esports title of Hearthstone has been played at IESF's World Championships in 2014 (Baku), 2015 (Seoul), and in 2016.

Thus it is no surprise that Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) promotes the title as much as possible at every level.

The various League of Legends teams that have represented South Africa at all of the above-named IESF World Championships have done so with pride, made many a new friend, and have been an absolute credit to the country.

Those who have represented South Africa for the esports title of Hearthstone are:

• 2015 - Barry West (Tuks), 
• 2016 - Wynand Meiring (Tuks), and 
• 2017 - Francois Mouton (Tuks).

Fifteen more players in  MSSA's 36th Gauteng Provincial Championships all earned their berths in MSSA's 2018 National Team Trials.

The criteria to qualify for such trials all Registered Players that win a Regional Championship shall earn an invitation to National Team Trials.

Also, all Registered Players that score within the top 20% or top three places, whichever is greater, in a specific Period at a Provincial or National Championship shall earn an invitation to National Team Trials.

It should be remembered that members of the current Protea Squad automatically earn a berth at the National Team Trials (NTT) should they have met their obligations in terms of participation at MSSA events.

The Registered Players that earned such an invite for the Hearthstone esports title are:

Name of player	Club	Period	Province
Gawie Fick	Fakkel School of Skills	Hearthstone	Free State
Orlando Crossling	Northcliff High School	Hearthstone	Gauteng
Cobus van der Wath	Fakkel School of Skills	Hearthstone	Free State
Linda Swanepoel	Fakkel School of Skills	Hearthstone	Free State

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

• CounterStrike: GO - 8th Online Inter-School Championships
• CounterStrike: GO - 36th Gauteng Provincial Championships
• DotA 2 - 8th Online Inter-School Championships
• DotA 2 - 36th Gauteng Provincial Championships
• FIFA - 8th Online Inter-School Championships
• FIFA - 36th Gauteng Provincial Championships
• Hearthstone - 8th Online Inter-School Championships
• Hearthstone - 36th Gauteng Provincial Championships
• League of Legends - 8th Online Inter-School Championships
• League of Legends - 36th Gauteng Provincial Championships
• Tekken - 8th Online Inter-School Championships
• Vainglory - 8th Online Inter-School Championships

Results: 14th Free State Championships - 24 and 25 June 2017.

Gawie Fick (left)  enjoying a game of Tekken 7 against Leoné Loftus.

Mind Sports South Africa's 14th Free State Provincial Championships were held on 24 and 25 June 2017 and was once again hosted by an ever efficient Fakkel School in Sasolburg. The championship was a fantastic success with entries increasing by 60% over the 2016 numbers. 

This is the second consecutive year that Fakkel School has hosted such championship. The school is thus fast gaining a reputation for becoming the center for gaming in the Free State.

Special thanks must be extended to the school, Mr Henry Colin, all the administrators, umpires, participants and spectators for making a truly memorable event.

It was great to see so many parents come through to watch and encourage their children on to greater heights.

The championship attracted players from Free State,and  Gauteng as players battled it out to earn the title of Free State Champion in the various games on offer, as well as the right to fight for a place in the 2018 National Team Trials that will ultimately deliver the National Protea teams that will compete in various international events.

Now that MSSA has a channel on Tuluntulu, much of the footage filmed at such 14th Free State Championships will be screened on such channel.

History was made at MSSA's 14th Free State Championships when Chanel De Wet (JCS Academ) became the first female to earn Free State Provincial Colours for the game of Checkers. 

Well done Chanel De Wet, we are all proud of you.

The full list of winners is:

Title	Name of player/team	Club	Colours awarded
Checkers (female)	Cassandra van Tonder	JCS Academy
Checkers	Pheelo Humane	Fakkel School	High School Provincial
Checkers (High School)	Neo Mokoena	Fakkel School
Checkers (Primary School)	Wynand Janse van Rensburg	JCS Academy
Counterstrike: GO	Masters	Masters of Mind Sports	Provincial
FIFA '17	Khahliso Malape and Gordon McCormack	Fakkel School JCS Academy
FIFA '17 (High School)	Thokozane Matimane	Fakkel School
FIFA '17 (Primary School)	Franco Janse van Rensburg	Masters of Mind Sports
HearthStone	Beon Bronthorst and Christopher Fenton	JCS Academy
Morabaraba (female)	Anne-Lee Steyn	JCS Academy	Provincial
Morabaraba	Jarren Smith	JCS Academy	Provincial
Morabaraba (High School)	Xavier Ferreira	JCS Academy
Mortal Kombat X (female)	Leoné Loftus	Fakkel School
Mortal Kombat X	Joost Loftus	Masters of Mind Sports	Provincial
Mortal Kombat X (High School)	Phoenix Janse van Vuuren	Fakkel School
PES 2017 (female)	Angelique Taljaard	Fakkel School	Provincial
PES 2017	Khahliso Malape	Fakkel School	Provincial
PES 2017 (High School)	Gordon McCormack	JCS Academy
StarCraft II	Devon Morris	Blue Dragon
StarCraft II (Under 24)	Chad Schuleman	Blue Dragon
Street Fighter V (female)	Leoné Loftus	Fakkel School
Street Fighter V	Joost Loftus	Masters of Mind Sports
Street Fighter V (High School)	Phoenix Janse van Vuuren	Fakkel School
Street Fighter V (Primary School)	Gushin de Bruin	Fakkel School
Tekken 7 (female)	Leoné Loftus	Fakkel School
Tekken 7 (female – High School)	Kristen Cockeran	Fakkel School
Tekken 7 (female – Primary School)	Kaitlyn Creighton	Masters of Mind Sports
Tekken 7	Gawie Fick	Fakkel School	Provincial
Tekken 7 (High School)	Rynhardt Engelbrecht	Fakkel School
Tekken 7 (Primary School)	Franco Janse van Rensburg	Fakkel School

Photographs of the event may be found at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/mindsportssa/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10156246492309008

The next three events.

This weekend will see the 16th Mpumulanga Provincial Championships played on 27 & 28 May 2017 at HTS Witbank.

The Mpumulanga Championships has always proven itself to be a popular event, and from small beginnings has grown in size to rival the annual Gauteng Provincial Championships. The growth of the championships can be directly ascribed to the leadership in the  province and the efficiently run championships.

At the end of the day, the administration and umpires make or break an event.

Then, just a week after the 16th Mpumulanga Provincial Championships, MSSA is holding its National Team Trials at Roedean School. This will no doubt be an exhausting weekend as players grapple to get into the national team.

The end of the month sees the 14th Free State Provincial Championships again being played at Fakkel School in Sasolburg on 24 & 25 June 2017.

The Free State Championship is thus the first championship in the run up to the 2018 National Team Trials, and it is always well worth it for players to get an early qualification as the teams can the concentrate on their 'strats' instead of being overly concerned with qualifying.

Results of MSSA's 30th South African National Championships

Wolfpack in action at the 2016 SA National Championships.

MSSA's 30^th National Championships once again hosted by HTS Witbank was indeed a success.

Thanks must be extended to HTS Witbank, Morizane Boyes and the Mpumulanga Provincial Director, Mr. Louis Brown.

The championship attracted players from the majority of provinces. Players attended from 6 provinces.

More importantly the number of female participation grew exponentially with women competing in 10 out of the 12 games offered. The SA Nationals is thus now the championship that has more female participation than any other championship held in South Africa, and ranks among the top championships in the world for such.

Players thus battled it out to not only to earn the title of South African Champion, but also to earn National Federation Colours and the right to fight for a place in the 2017 National Team Trials that will ultimately deliver a team to IeSF's 2017 9^th World Championships.

The championship delivered a number of surprises. Most notable of the surprise results were to be found in the CounterStrike, FIFA, and HearthStone titles.

In CounterStrike, the newly formed VexxedPhoenix team smashed the opposition to take first place.

The all female team, Team Wolfpack, too delivered outstanding performances  to take 1st place in the women's division.

A challenger from Fakkel School in Sasolburg, by the name of Khahliso Malape, emerged as the winner. However, Jolene Bico maintained her position as the female South African champion. 

HearthStone too showed a new challenger coming to the fore. Kelvin Yang (Northcliff High School) waltzed home to take the title of South African champion and earn himself a position in the 2017 National Team Trials.

The winners are:

Title	Name of player/team	Club	Colours awarded
Ancients wargames	Colin Webster	Old Edwardian Wargames Club
Ancients wargames – Handicaps	Terence Allwright	Old Edwardian Wargames Club
Checkers	Khahliso Malape	Fakkel School
Checkers - female	Lucille Brown	All Stars
CounterStrike: GO	VxP Knights	VexxedPhoenix	National Colours
CounterStrike: GO – female	Wolfpack	Knights Mind Sports Club	National Colours
CounterStrike: GO – High School	K1IIJOYS	BNKR
DotA 2	Titans	VexxedPhoenix	National Colours
FIFA ‘16	Khahliso Malape	Fakkel School	National Colours
FIFA ‘16 – female	Jolene Bico	BNKR	National Colours
FIFA ‘16 – High Schooll	Kamohelo Tladi	Fakkel School
Hearthstone	Kelvin Yang	Northcliff High School	National Colours
League of Legends	Fuzz Logic	VexxedPhoenix	National Colours
League of Legends – High School	K1IIJOYS	Hoerskool Generaal Hertzog
Morabaraba	Johannes Mokua	All Stars	National Colours
Morabaraba (female)	Nombulelo Gavin	Fakkel School	National Colours
Morabaraba – High School	Mukha Masheleni	Fakkel School
Mortal Kombat X	Kyle Chan Some	Northcliff High School	National Colours
Mortal Kombat X (female)	Leone Loftus	Fakkel	National Colours
	Robyn Gertzer	Teutonic Knights	National Colours
PES 2016	Richard Ferreira	Fakkel School	National Colours
PES 2016 (female)	Leone Loftus	Fakkel School
Street Fighter V	Leonard Loftus	Masters of Mind Sports	National Colours
Street Fighter V (female)	Sune Van Der Merwe	HTS Witbank	National Colours
Tekken Tag Tournament II	Gawie Fick	Fakkel School	National Colours
Tekken Tag Tournament II (female)	Nadine Swart	HTS Witbank	National Colours
Tekken Tag Tournament II – High School	Waldo Joubert	BNKR
	Jan-Hendrik Van Aswegen	BNKR
StarCraft II	Aidan Smale	Old Edwardian Wargames Club	National Colours

Photographs of the event may be found on: https://www.facebook.com/pg/mindsportssa/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155465022184008

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