Dates for the Inter-School League

Now that MSSA's Management Board (MANCOM) has decided to split the inter-school league into two, one for four (4) term schools, and the other for three (3) school terms, all the dates for such leagues are now available.

Of course the league shall still be held to the wonderful Swiss type system.

The Swiss System is well-known to aid development of both teams and players. Thus only once the results are in after each round can the pairings take place for the next round.

The various rounds shall be played on the following dates:

Four term schools' school league -
1st round -	week ending 28 July 2017
2nd round -	week ending 4 August 2017
3rd round -	week ending 11 August 2017
4th round -	week ending 18 August 2017
5th round –	week ending 25 August 2017
Three term schools' school league -
1st round -	week ending 8 September 2017
2nd round -	week ending 15 September 2017
3rd round -	week ending 22 September 2017
4th round -	week ending 29 September 2017
5th round -	week ending 6 October 2017

Schools  may begin to enter their teams on the allotted Google Drive pages.

Parklands College holds off the challenge from Jeppe High.

There is no doubt that there is a very strong gaming culture in Parklands College.

Ever since the College started their gaming club and affiliated to MSSA, Parklands College has shown itself to be a strong contender in all the periods in which the school participates. Added to the competitiveness for which the team has become synonymous, is the high standard of sportsmanship found within the team.

The results so far for MSSA's Ladder for the week 13 - 17 March 2017:

Week ended 17 March 2017
Period	Team	Club/school	vs	Team	Club/school	Score
CounterStrilke: GO	Empangeni High School	Empangeni High School		Global Elite	Brandcliff House	16 – 3
	Alerion Gaming	Parklands College		Tesseract	Jeppe High School for Boys	16 – 2
	WBHS	Westville High		Winter wolfs	Hoërskool Wonderboom	TBA
	PG 16	Parklands College		Jeppe	Jeppe High School for Boys	16 – 0
DotA 2	WBHS	Westville High		WYSIWYG	Jeppe High School for Boys	26 – 11
League of Legends	Jeppe	Jeppe High School for Boys		St Stithians	St Stithians College	STS forfeit

Can Parklands take the DotA 2 title again?

The Parklands  team that won MSSA's 2016 SA  National School Championships.

Maritzburg College improved steadily over the years to finally win the DotA 2 title in 2016 in MSSA's Schools Online Championships. However, with many of its players from its top team having matriculated in 2016, everyone is interested to see if the school has the depth of players to fill the gaps and still dominate in the game.

It is my opinion it is important not only to nurture the top teams, but to also nurture the average standard in order to bring the raise the average standard in order to create more effective competition for the top teams.
Of course, it would be remiss to ignore Parklands College.

Parklands College won the championship in 2016 and then finished in second place in 2016.
Parklands College convincingly won the DotA 2 title at MSSA's 2016 S A National School Championships - Cape Town where the team was awarded High School National Federation Colours for their achievement.

Such team consisted of:

• Devon Crowther
• Adam Knoesen
• Jackie Pillay
• Emile Tredoux
• Dylan van Heerden

The DotA 2 results for the top ten teams for 2015 and 2016, is as follows:

2015 Schools Online DotA 2				2016 Schools Online DotA 2
1	Parklands College B	Parklands College		1	Maritzburg College A	Maritzburg College
2	FHHS 1	Fish Hoek High School		2	PC DOTA	Parklands College
3	Fairmont 2nd Team	Fairmont High School		3	Mr Project	Oakhill
4	Sacred Heart 1	Sacred Heart		4	PRIDE	Parktown Boys
5	Maritzburg College 1	Maritzburg College		4	SJC Outdoor Decorator	St John's
6	Rondebosch	Rondebosch Boys High		6	SSES DOTA	St Stithians
7	LHG 2	King David High School		7	SJC Eagles	St John's
8	Pr0NHS	Northcliff High School		8	HTS Blue	HTS Witbank
9	Oakhill	Oakhill School		9	Maritzburg College B	Maritzburg College
10	Fairmont 3rd Team	Fairmont High School		10	PR0NHS	Northcliff High School

DF MALAN from Western Cape heads the table

2016  MSSA SA School Championships - DF Malan

The DF Malan High School CounterStrike: GO team currently dominates MSSA's rankings. The team under the astute leadership of Abraham Groenewald has lead the team from success to success.

The 2016 season saw the team get awarded Provincial and National Federation Colours with even a team member, Dillon Justus, being picked for Protea Team duty. The CounterStrike: GO Protea Team saw service at IeSF's 8th World Championships - Jakarta.

The only real threat to DF Malan again dominating both MSSA's Online School Championships, to be held on 11 February 2017, and the official rankings are two other schools from the Western Cape being, Rondebosch Boys and Parklands College.

There is much to be gained from participating in the Online Schools Championships as the top three teams will automatically earn a berth at the most  prestigious esports event of the year - the National Team Trials.

It is at such National Team Trials that the players for Protea duty shall be selected.

The full rankings are:

Pos	Name of Player	year	Club	Points
1	Team espera	16	DF Malan	910.3
2	RBHS CSGO A	16	Rondebosch Boys	619.7
3	PG 18	16	Parklands College	355.8
4	PR0NHS	16	Northcliff High School	313.2
5	Rondebosch	15	Rondebosch Boys High	311.9
7	2nd Team	15	Fairmont High School	237.5
8	SJC SPEARR	15	St John's College	190.1
9	PRIDE	16	Parktown Boys	188.9
10	Spartans	16	SAHETI	188.1
11	SJC Carry+4Flashes	16	St John's	178
13	Pr0NHS	15	Northcliff High School	170.5
15	HTS	15	HTS Witbank	131.3
16	PG18	15	Parklands College	130.4
17	PG 16	16	Parklands College	120
18	LHG1	15	King David High School	117.5
19	RBHS CSGO B	16	Rondebosch Boys	112.5
21	Mr.Poject	16	Oakhill	100
22	J4WZ	15	Crawford College Sandton	100
23	Pandamonium	15	Crawford College Sandton	100
24	Nemises	15	Helpmekaar College	100
25	Spartans	15	SAHETI	100
26	OU812_WEH	15	St Alban's College	100
27	Hyde Park High School	15	Hyde Park High School	100
28	SJC Underdogs	15	St John's College	100
33	Linkside High	16	Linkside High	91
34	SJC Secrecy	15	St John's College	85
35	EyEZ	15	Helpmekaar College	75
38	1st Team	15	Fairmont High School	63.8
39	MC CS 1	16	Maritzburg College	56.8

Other rankings published by MSSA are:

• Senior Ancients Wargames
• Senior CounterStrike: GO
• Schools DotA 2

Revised MSSA CounterStrike: GO rankings published.

White Rabbit committee members watching their team at the 2015 S A National Championships

MSSA has just released the latest rankings for the CounterStrike: GO  title.

What is very encouraging about such rankings are the number of schools that are participating in the senior events.

Out of the 26 ranked teams, there are no less than 18 teams are school teams which include teams from  such prestigious schools as St John's College, Parklands College, Jeppe Boys, DF Malan, Parktown Boys, Rondebosch, Fairmont High, St Conrad's College, Pretoria Boys, Hoerskool Generaal Hertzog, Maritzburg  College and Northcliff High.

It may interest readers to note that DF Malan, Northcliff High, and St John's College has all regularly provided athletes to the Protea eSports Team.

The number of school teams further emphasises the strong foundations upon which MSSA is building.

Pos	Name of Player	year	Club	Points
1	WRG	15	White Rabbit Gaming	410.6
2	TERA| Qube	16	Anteria	389.1
3	VOID	16	St Johns	349.4
4	PORAXYSM	16	ALL STAR	285
5	VIGILANTES	15	TV	270
6	flikadawist	16	DF Malan	260
7	VOID	15	St John's	204.5
8	DELTA	15	All Stars	200.7
9	Rondebosch Boys High	15	RBHS	200
10	Phantom Troupe l Branden	16	Fairmont	197.6
11	PG – 18	15	Parklands	181.2
12	Pride	16	Parktown Boys	159.8
13	QUANTM	16	St Conrads	150
14	PFU	16	Fairmont	140.1
15	Fairmont High School	15	Fairmont	125
16	SPEARR	15	St Johns	120
17	Tesseract	16	Jeppe Boys	113.1
18	PBHS red	15	Pretoria Boys	112.5
19	HGH	16	Hoerskool Generaal Hertzog	100
20	All Stars	16	ALL STAR	100
21	PRONHS	15	Northcliff High	97
22	LAGSTEPS	15	BNKR	85
23	PG16	16	Parklands	84.4
24	VGR146	16	Lofdal	75
25	PBHS white	15	Pretoria Boys	56.3
26	Maritzburg College	16	Maritzburg College	56.3