Ghana beats South Africa in FIFA'16

Joline Bico, Kyle Turnbull and Bonge Zwane

On Saturday, 6 February 2016, South Africa took on Ghana at FIFA '16 at Hullabaloo, 72 Steenkamp Road, Witbank in an official IeSF accredited test match.

The South African team was considerably younger than their Ghanaian counterparts which falls in line with Mind Sports South Africa's policy of developing teams for international competition. Part of MSSA's development programme includes the inclusion of females into the national team in order to eradicate gender bias.

First up was Joline Bico, the only female currently serving in a national team for the FIFA '16 title. Joline fought fiercely against her opponent, never giving her opponent any chances. However, the Ghanaian proved tto strong for her and Joline finally lost both her games after a long struggle.

Bonge Zwane proved to be the unluckiest of the three South Africans. Bonge had more shots on goal than his opponent, had a far stronger attack than his opponent, but failed to capitalise on his strengths. Bonge too lost both his games.

Even the current South African champion, Kyle Turnbull, found that the matches were harder than he suspected. His opponents were shocked at just how good Kyle is. However, Kyle lost his first match, but quickly bounced back to win his second game.

Thus the South African team (all from Witbank) may have lost against Ghana, but as Kwezi Hayford of Ghana eSports Association stated, “ We did not think that the South Africans would be so strong. Already our players are talking about a rematch”.

Thus the SA team may not have had the results that they wanted, but they garnished the respect and friendship of their opponents.

Test Match between Ghana and South Africa

Team eSports Ghana (top) versus Team eSports South Africa (bottom)

On 6 February 2016 at 18H00, the South African Protea eSports  Team for FIFA '16 will take to the field against Ghana.

The match will be played online with  the Ghanaian team playing from Accra and the South African team from Witbank in Mpumulanga.

The venue for the South African team is:

Street address: Hullabaloo, Steenkamp Street, Del Judor, Witbank. (www.hullabaloo-tlf.co.za)
Telephone number: 072 582 4441 / 013 692 3757

The test match is  already receiving a great deal of interest amongst the gaming  communities in both country.

Although  there is a great deal of belief that  the South Africans  will win the Test Matches, the South African team is not taking  the  test match lightly. South Africa has already positioned itself to be in the forefront of gaming  in this title in Africa, so  there is  much to lose.

The Ghanaians  have a  reputation of being fierce competitors instilled with national pride, and as such have no intention of allowing South Africa to win.

The  teams are:
                           

Ghana	vs	South Africa
Frank Adotey Kpakpo		Kyle Turnbull
Yaw Boakye		Jolene Bico
Osbert Aidoo		Bonga Zwane

2015 MSSA Management Board Awards

Elishia Retief - Mind Sports Person of the Year

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) revealed at its Annual General Meeting the recipients of its prestigious Management Board Awards for the 2015 year.

It is always difficult for the Board to make these awards with so many outstanding performances from which to choose. Thus, the entire membership is enrolled in making nominations, and it is from these nominations that the final choice is made.

Elishia Retief – Elishia needs no introduction. Elishia is the female World Champion for no less than two years in a row. Her standard of play is thus at its peak, and her level of sportsmanship is without compare.

Lubabalo Kondlo – Lubabalo represented South Africa in Checkers in the USA, Italy and Wales in South Africa. Lububalo finished in sixth place in the World Qualifying Championships.

Kyle Turnbull - At 15 Kyle is one of South Africa's rising stars. Kyle played in online test matches against Austria and Zimbabwe in which he carried himself with distinction. Kyle too is unbeaten for three years in South African major championships.

Jason Batzofin – Jason is a two times Junior World Champion for Ancients Wargames. His dedication is unparalleled. Jason too, is committed to development and promotion of the game.

Morizane Boyes – It is not hard to praise Morizane. If MSSA requires assistance, Morizane is there. Her willingness to help, administrate, umpire and organise seems to know no bounds. Morizane is also South Africa's only internationally accredited umpire for eSports.

Andrew Rose of MyCommunity - The website has given MSSA fantastic coverageto MSSA and eSports. The dedication shown by Andrew to eSports is truly remarkable.

MWEB – MWEB has sponsored MSSA for three years in a row as MSSA''s headline sponsor. With MWEB's sponsorship, much has been able to be achieved in all fields. Standards have been improved, and South Africa has moved from being ranked in 18^th place to 12^th place in the world.

The sponsorship has also allowed MSSA to do vital development works in townships and rural areas which are beginning to show fruit.

Mind Sports Person of the Year:	Elishia Retief	Old Edwardian Wargames Club
Board Gamer of the Year:	Lubabalo Kondlo	Dr Niederhoffer Memorial CC
Computer Gamer of the Year:	Kyle Turnbull	HTS Witbank
Wargamer of the Year:	Jason Batzofin	St John's College
Volunteer of the Year:	Morizane Boyes	HTS Witbank
Mind Sports Writer of the Year:	Andrew Rose	MyCommunity
Best Sponsor of the Year:	MWEB

Capetonian challenges National Champion

Andrew Reeve

The MWEB South African National Championships to be held at HTS Witbank on 12 & 13 December 2015 will see a clash in the FIFA '15 discipline of titanic proportions.

Of course the three time MSSA SA National Champion, from Witbank, Kyle Turnbull will be there to defend his title. Kyle is not only the SA National Champion, but is also currently in both the Senior and Junior teams for such title and has participated in test matches against Austria and Zimbabwe.

However, this year the current Western Cape Provincial Champion, Andrew Reeve (from Fairmont High School) will be challenging Kyle for the position of S A National Champion.

Without doubt, it will be an exciting championship.

Kyle Turnbull

Results of Austria versus South Africa in FIFA '15

Joline Bico, Bonga Zwane, and Kyle Turnbull

The online Test Match held on Saturday. 11 July 2015. between the best of Austria's FIFA '15 players and the MSSA's FIFA '15 Schools team forms part of the MSSA's ambitious plans to improve the overall standard of gaming. The MWEB sponsored South African team all come from Witbank, and played from the BNKR Gaming House, 41 Duncan Street (corner of Mandela Avenue), Witbank.

The trio representing South Africa were none other than Bonga Zwane, Kyle Turnbull and Joline Bico.
The trio representing Austria are all seasoned veterans (Michael Schachner, Mirza Jahic, and Herbert Schachner, and are considered to be among the best in the world.

It is this very type of competition that will help South African eSports rise up and take its place against the best in the world.

The first match was between Bonga Zwane (who used Germany) versus Michael Schachner (who used Spain). This was Bonga's first foray into international gaming. Michael Schachner's pedigree is quite different. Michael, currently a student in Vienna, has taken second place in one of the biggest tournaments in Vienna (Comboclash), 5^th in the Bavaria Cup, and has won several other championships in Vienna.

Thus the first match was proved to be a shock as Bonga as he tried to work out his opponent. Michael proved to be too much for Bonga and beat him 3 - 0 in the first game. However, in the second game Bonga showed his character and showed just how quickly he could learn by countering his opponent at every turn to force a goal-less draw.

Who knows what would happen if Bonga plays against Michael again!

The second match was between Kyle Turnbull (who used Argentina) versus Mirza Jahic (who used Portugal). Kyle is the current undisputed South African Champion for two consecutive years in a row, and has just embarked on his international career. Mirza Jahic, on the other hand is a Professional FIFA Player, the multiple Austrian FIFA Champion and is also Virtual Bundesliga Champion for 2014. Mirza also holds a Guinness World Record in Pro Evolution Soccer (PES).

The match was thus always going to be hard, very hard!

The first match was shock for Kyle, he couldn't figure out how to counter Mirza and suffered going down 0 – 4.

However, true to form, Kyle bounced back.

In the second game, Kyle detected the kink in Mirza's armour and almost drew the match. He fought the whole way through and put Mirza on the back foot for a portion of the game. Only in the last minute of the game did Mirza score once again to wrestle a 3-2 victory away from Kyle.

The third and final match was between Joline Bico (who used Spain and Argentina) versus Herbert Schachner (England and Belgium). It was Joline's first foray into international competition, and is the only female in the MWEB Team eSports South Africa for FIFA '15. Her opponent, Herbert "Suchender" Schachner has twice finished second only to Mirza in both Austria and in Bavaria. 

Herbert is too a winner of a number of other regional cups in Vienna.

Joline pushed hard in her first game, and worked very well defending against Herbert’s continual attacks, but unfortunately 2 goals snuck by which gave Herbert a 2 – 0 victory.

In the second game, Joline was far more aggressive and almost scored on 3 occasions. A lot was learnt from the last match and although two goals got through it was a much better performance.

Even though South Africa lost this first ever encounter against Austria, the MSSA remains upbeat about the development of its younger gamers. All three gamers gave it their all and showed great strength of character in the face of very stiff international competition. The MSSA is too very proud on how the players treated defeat. Instead of crumbling, all three players came back stronger than before.


One can hardly wait until the next test match...

Taking on Austria

It has finally been agreed upon.

On 11 July 2015 the MWEB High School Team eSports SA will take on the Austrian High School Team for FIFA '15 in an online international test match.

The South African team shall play the international test match from the BNKR Gaming Lounge, cnr of Duncan and Mandela Streets, Witbank. The test match shall start at 18H00. 

This test match represents a number of firsts for South Africa, and South African gaming, being:

• This is the first full accredited School's test match accredited by the IeSF, 
• This is the first time that South Africa will com,pete in an online test match against Austria,
• This is the first eSports test match in which the MSSA will be involving a school team, and
• This is the first time that a female player will officially represent South Africa in FIFA '15.

The MSSA has a great deal of confidence in the abilities of the team. Coincidentally the entire team hails from Witbank and is drawn from the strongest High School players that South Africa has to offer.

The players are:

Kyle  Turnbull

Kyle is the undisputed South African National Champion having won the national Championships in two consecutive years. Kyle too also earned his senior Protea Colours when he was selected to represent South Africa in a test match against Zimbabwe. Needless to say, Kyle cruised through the test match and demolished his opposition giving South Africa a well deserved 2 - 0 victory.

Joline Bico

Joline was awarded her Mpumulanga Colours at the 2015 MWEB Mpumulanga Championships in May 2015. Without doubt, Joline is the best female FIFA '15 gamer in South Africa. Joline too is currently the only player that has finished a game against Kyle Turnbull in an official competition game with only a one goal difference (3 - 2) in the past two years.

  Bonga Zwane

Bonga has an impressive record in the MWEB online S A Schools Championships as well as at a couple of Provincial LAN Championships. Bonga has consistently finished in the medals, always on the heels of the likes of Kyle Turnbull. It is the likes of Bonga that continually push the standard of play forward through Bonga's dedication and perseverance.

Kyle Turnbull wins!

Kyle Turnbull having received his Protea Colours

We are all aware that Kyle Turnbull, from HTS Witbank, is without doubt the best FIFA eSports gamer in South Africa as he has been crowned the SA National Champion twice in as many years.

However, with his impending international test match as the newest member of the MWEB Protea eSports Team, a certain degree of nervousness flickered among all gamers as they saw the list of impressive credentials exhibited by his Zimbabwean opponent.

Rowen Phiri was a veteran international player, and a professional to boot!

Nevertheless, Kyle remained upbeat about the test match and showed remarkable focus.

After the customary award ceremony whereat Kyle Turnbull was awarded his Protea Colours, the games began.

The seamless internet connection at the The Mana Pool 41 Duncan Street, corner of Mandela and Duncan Street, Witbank, Mpumalanga ensured that the on-line test match was without fault.

The first game started slowly with each gamer testing every aspect of each other's play. At half-time the score was thus only 0 – 0. However, after half time Kyle swung into action and dominated possession. Seven shots were made on goal before Kyle scored. The assembled audience rose as won in delight!

Kyle maintained the pressure, but was able to score.

Thus the first game was a victory to Kyle and South Africa.

Kyle between games

In the second game, a more confident Kyle showed no quarter.

Kyle shot out like a stampeding bull and, in quick succession, slammed four goals in before Rowen had time to retaliate with a goal of his own.

Kyle the slammed in yet another goal to win the second game of the test match by 5 goals to 1.

Thus South Africa proudly won the first eSports Test Match ever against Zimbabwe.

Nevertheless, the sportsmanship shown by Rowen Phiri was exemplorary. Rowen too has vowed to reverse the score in the next test match.

Kyle Turnbull has thus made his mark not only in gaming in South Africa, but is slowly climbing the ladder in international gaming.

It will now be interesting to see who his next opponent will be….

SA vs ZIM in FIFA '15

Already many gamers, members of the sporting fraternity and the media are aware that on the 18^th of April 2015 South Africa's MWEB Protea Team member for FIFA '15 will be playing an on-line Test Match against Zimbabwe.

While South Africa's Kyle Turnbull is known to South African gamers of substance, few South Africans know of the gamer against whom Kyle will be pitting his wits

The Zimbabwean, Rowen Phiri "izscube" started competitive gaming by playing Need For Speed and PC

Fifa for various teams in Zimbabwe.

Rowen is the first Zimbabwean player to reach Grandmaster rankings in the start of 2015, He went on to represent Zimbabwe at the IZS National Combined after being one of the first four players to qualify for the event.

In 2013 represented Zimbabwe where he finished in the quarter-finals.

During November 2012 to January 2014, Rowen Phiri spent time training in the local academy.

Rowen Phiri was signed as a full-time player to Individual Zone Solutions in the beginning of 2013 and continues to play full-time.

There is no doubt that Zimbabwe has not left any stone unturned for this match as the two gamers face off against each other.

The venues to be used are:

South Africa	Zimbabwe
The Mana Pool 41 Duncan Street, corner of Mandela and Duncan Street, Witbank, Mpumalanga. Contact details for the venue: https://www.facebook.com/bnkrgaming	Living Waters, located on the corner of Eland Resturant Beitbridge .Contact details for the venue:https://www.facebook.com/individualzone?fref=ts Individual Zone Solutions P/L

The test match will start at 19H00.

HTS Witbank shows solid growth

HTS Witbank Mind Sports Club was only established by the school in 2013. However, due to an incredibly

supportive Headmaster and an Educator that does not quit, the club has grown from strength to strength.

The club is of course the brain-child of Morizane Boyes who has sunk much of her time and effort into the club.

But she does not do it alone, Morizane encourages the buy-in of each and every member. As a result, she acknowledges the work of the Club Captain, Douglas Tollemache, to be instrumental to the club's growth.

Morizane is more than aware that the club is more than just games and that it is about promoting people and unlocking the potential that each member has.

As a result the club now boasts a new record of 115 gamers of which 30 of such gamers are females.

This makes the HTS club the leader in terms of female membership.

But the club does not just boast of having a strong membership, the club also has gamers of exceptional standard.

Morizane herself has Protea Colours for Mind Sports having represented South Africa in the MWEB Team eSports South Africa in the IeSF's 6^th World Championships – Baku.

However, the real star of the show is Kyle Turnbull who first appeared on the competitive gaming scene in 2013.

Kyle's game is FIFA '15, and since he entered competitive gaming, Kyle has won every single senior Provincial and S A National Championship in which he has played.

Kyle's performance is even more remarkable considering that he has not lost a single game in any of the senior championships that he has played and that he is the youngest FIFA player to ever be awarded Senior National Federation Colours.

Thus the HTS club with its unique blend of enthusiasm, skill, dedication, and experience seems to be ready to stamp its authority on the South African gaming scene.

Results: MSSA's MWEB 2014 Mpumalanga LAN Championships - 24 & 25 May 2014

Once again HTS Witbank hosted the MSSA's MWEB Mpumalanga

However the growth in the number of gamers at the championships would not have been possible without the herculean efforts of Morizane Boyes, Bianca Henning, and Louis Brown.

The support being given by the schools is proving to be the back-bone of the MSSA  and is the most important part of the MSSA's development programmes.

Championships. The Championships were played on the weekend on 24 & 25 May 2014 and experienced solid growth among all sectors. Not only was there a general increase in the number of gamers present, and the number of games that were played, but there too was an increase in the number of female competitors.

There was no less than a seven fold increase in the number of females competing with  more females playing the game of Tekken Tag Tournament II© than males. Obviously the emphasis that the MSSA is putting on the development of females in gaming is starting to bear fruit. It is hoped that the 2015 championships will see even more female gamers especially now that the MSSA makes provision (in accordance with IeSF rules) to hold competitions in all titles for both female and male teams and/or players.

The support given by MWEB again proved to be invaluable to the MSSA, and as a result of such support members were able to enjoy the benefits of participating in an official LAN championship. It is through the official championships that gamers are able to qualify for colours and for national team trials. In other words, the official championships form part of a year year  long qualification process for gamers to  prove their worth in order to be selected to finally, and officially, represent South Africa in international competition.

Six member clubs from two provinces contested the championships.

At the championships, the Tuks Mindsport Club again dominated the League of Legends and Dota 2 events. However, the rest of the events were divided up among the Mpumalanga based clubs.

Special mention must be made of Kyle Turnbull who pulled out a surprise win over veteran Abubakar 'Mikkael' Ebrahiem at the 2013 MWEB Mpumalanga Championships. Kyle went on to further cement his dominance in the game of FIFA '14© by trouncing all opponents at the 2013 MWEB SA National Championships. Kyle confirmed his mastery of the game at the Mpumalanga Championships by once again winning all of his games at the Provincial Championships to automatically earn himself Provincial Colours.

Nadine Swart also deserves special mention. The diminutive Nadine totally dominated the game of Tekken Tag tournament II©. Her standard of play was indeed most impressive and Nadine lead the championship from start to finish. In fact, there are many of the MSSA officials who strongly believe that Nadine may just have a chance of earning herself a place in the 2014 Protea Team that will go to Baku, Azerbijan in November this year.

Only time will tell!

The winners of the different titles are:

BOARD GAMES

Morabaraba

Female – Premier				Male – Premier
Pos	Team	Club		Pos	Team	Club
1	Nomfundo Moyo	HTS Witbank		1	Simphiwe Maphumulo	Zola Checkers Club

eSPORTS

Call of Duty: Ghosts

Male – Premier (PC)
Pos	Team	Club
1	TFR	All Stars

Male – Premier (PS3)
Pos	Team	Club
1	Ash Meltdown	HTS Witbank

Male – Premier (XBox)
Pos	Team	Club
1	ELECTRA	HTS Witbank

COUNTERSTRIKE GO

Male – Premier
Pos	Team	Club
1	Delta 5 Gaming	All Stars

Dota 2

Male – Premier
Pos	Team	Club
1	TMSC Sabotage	Tuks Mindsport Club

Male – Schools
Pos	Team	Club
1	Grey Warders	HTS Witbank

FIFA '14

Male – Premier (PS3)
Pos	Name	Club
1	Kyle Turnbull	HTS Witbank

Male – Schools (PS3)
Pos	Name	Club
1	Sibusiso Mathizerd	Hoerskool Generaal Hertzog

Male – Premier (XBOX)
Pos	Name	Club
tie 1	Bomganjala Zwane Setlabocha Pudi	HTS Witbank

Male – Schools (PS3)
Pos	Name	Club
1	Armand du Preez	Hoerskool Generaal Hertzog

League of legends

Male – Premier
Pos	Team	Club
1	Senior Team	Tuks Mind Sports Club

OSU

Female – Premier				Male – Premier
Pos	Team	Club		Pos	Team	Club
1	Lucille Brown	HGH		1	Lejend Muir	All Stars

StarCraft 2

Female – Premier				Male – Premier
Pos	Team	Club		Pos	Team	Club
1	Morizane Boyes	All Stars		1	Jaco Botha	HTS Witbank

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Female – Premier				Male – Premier
Pos	Team	Club		Pos	Team	Club
1	Nadine Swart	HTS Witbank		tie 1	Legend Muir Andrè Potgieter	All Stars HTS Witbank

Female – Under 24
Pos	Team	Club
1	Riana du Plessis	All Stars

Female – Schools				Male – Premier
Pos	Team	Club		Pos	Team	Club
tie 1	Nadia Nasson Zanele Kanye	HTS Witbank HTS Witbank		1	Martin van Niekerk	HTS Witbank

FIGURE GAMES

Ancients

Female – Premier				Male – Premier
Pos	Team	Club		Pos	Team	Club
1	Elisha Retief	Old Edwardian Wargames Club		1	Donald Mullany	Old Edwardian Wargames Club

In total, 29 gamers earned the right to wear Provincial Colours. A further 10 students were awarded Student provincial Colours and 12 learners were awarded High School Provincial Colours. All those that were awarded the various Provincial Colours were immediately given both their certificates and a high quality 195gsm golf shirt to indicate that they had received such colours.

The MWEB championships too saw a total of 95 gamers qualify for National Team Trials. With so many gamers qualifying for trials, there is no doubt that the MSSA will have sufficient teams in order to select teams to represent South Africa.

Photographs can be found on https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152856369719008.1073741880.146018324007&type=3