Reminder: Umpiring Course.

As a follow up to the notice posted on 20 March 2018, members are reminded of the Umpiring Course to be held in Mpumalanga.

One of the most important aspects of a well run championship is the consistency and standard of umpiring.

Umpiring affects every aspect of a championship, and since Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is highly cognisant of such, MSSA shall be holding a number of umpires' courses during 2018.

Such umpiring courses around the country shall ensure that umpires are certified and are fully aware of their duties and responsibilities.

The next two courses shall be done as follows:

MPUMALANGA
Date	12 May 2018
Time	08h00 - 16h00
Venue	HTS Witbank, Beyers Street, Die Heuwel, Emalahleni
Fee	R300 per registered member (catering included)
Entry date	7 May 2018

The course shall include:

* Ethics
* Background to MSSA's systems
* Roles of the different umpires
* Entry
* Basic rules to the games
* Pairings
* Data capturing of results
* How results are further used

At the end, a test will be given, and those that pass will be accredited as umpires.

Any Registered Player who is 18 or older may register for such course through their member club.

MSSA releases its updated rankings for Ancients.

Jacques Gertzen - chairman of Witbank's only wargames club.

Mind Sports South Africa's Mpumulanga Championships once again saw wargames being played at the provincial championships.

The continued support by a number of wargamers from around the country has seen a wargames club develop in Witbank. Such club is the Teutonic Knights Wargames Club which is more than efficiently run by Jacques Getzner.

In less than a year, the standard of play at the Teutonic Knights Wargames Club has improved exponentially.

However, it is through hard work and dedication that such standard has improved. Members of the Teutonic Knights Wargames Club were present at MSSA's 29th S A National Championships (2016), at MSSA's 34th Gauteng Provincial Championships, at MSSA's 21st North West Championships, and at MSSA's 16th Mpumulanga Provincial Championships.

To improve, it is vital for  players to participate in as many championships as possible.

The rankings are as follows:

Pos	Name of Player	year	Club	Points
1	Batzofin, Jason 14	17	Old Edwardian Wargames Club	618.9
2	Webster, Colin 91	17	Old Edwardian Wargames Club	589.5
3	Schoeman, Garth 02	17	Knights Mind Sports Club	336.1
4	Allwright, Terence	17	Old Edwardian Wargames Club	335.5
5	Retief, Elishia 14	17	North West University	263.2
6	Barry, Sean 09	17	Uplands College	252.6
7	Burger, Erasmus	15	TUKS Mind Sports Club	195
8	Bouwer, Abie	15	Old Edwardian Wargames Club	195
9	Havenga, Duane	15	WAR	195
10	Beuken, Leopold	15	Riverview Mind Sports Club	195
11	Hervey, Simon	15	Pretoria Boys High School	190
12	Louw, Adam	15	Pretoria Boys High School	155.1
13	Getzner, Jacques	17	Teutonic Knights Mind Sports Club	136.5
14	van Vuuren, Marius	15	WAR	107.9
15	Els, Anja	17	Teutonic Knights Mind Sports Club	107
16	Bouwer, Natan	15	Old Edwardian Wargames Club	100
17	Groenewald, Zenadia	15	WAR	100
18	Love, Dorian	16	St John's College	100
19	Schoeman, Alex	15	Knights Mind Sports Club	81.6

Rankings published by MSSA are:

• Senior Ancients Wargames
• Senior CounterStrike: GO
• Senior DotA 2
• Senior FIFA '17
• Senior League of Legends
• Senior Pro Evolution Soccer (PES)
• Senior StarCraft II
• Senior Street Fighter V
• Schools CounterStrike: GO
• Schools DotA 2
• Schools League of Legends

Nadine Swart is SA’s top female Tekken Player

Nadine Swart at MSSA's recent 2017 Mpumulanga Championships.

MSSA’s 16th MpumulangaChampionships held at HTS Witbank on 27 & 28 May 2017 delivered some interesting results.

Not only were there more female entrants to the Tekken fame title than in any other championship in South Africa, but, such competitors showed that their standard of play had improved in leaps and bounds.

South Africa now has now got 13 female Tekken players officially ranked.

All four of the top players come from various clubs based in Witbank. Which is testament to Morizane Boyes commitment to growing and developing esports among women.

Nadine Swart heads the table after many years of playing second fiddle to Morizane Boyes (who represented South Africa at IeSF’s 6^th World Championships – Baku).

This is truly a case of the student becoming the master.

Pos	Name of Player	year	Club	Points
1	Nadine Swart	17	HTS Witbank	196.8
2	Sune van de Merwe	17	HTS Witbank	161.6
3	Doreen Els	17	Teutonic Knights Mind Sports Club	157.4
4	Morizané Boyes	17	BNKR	153.6
5	Kaitlyn Creighton	17	Master of Mind Sports	124.6
6	Robyn Gertzen	17	Teutonic Knights Mind Sports Club	114.8
7	Amanda Kumalo	16	Fakkel School	113.5
8	Andrea Bosch	15	Fairmont High School	110
9	Angelique Taljaard	17	Fakkel School	100
10	Leoné Loftus	17	Fakkel School	97.5
11	Dana Coleman	15	BNKR	96.9
12	Twane Martins	15	BNKR	95
13	Elize Crouse	15	Fairmont High School	95

FIFA '17 players that have qualified for National Team Trials.

Jolene Bico, of Witbank, has once again qualified for National Team Trials.

MSSA's 2017 National Team Trials shall be held on 3 & 4 June 2017.

For those that still want to qualify, there is one last opportunity being MSSA's 16^th  Mpumulanga Provincial Championships to be held  on 27^th & 28^th May 2017 at HTS Witbank.

Twenty three athletes have so far qualified for MSSA's FIFA '17 National Team Trials.

Out of the twenty three athletes who have qualified, only three of the players who have so qualified are female which shows that MSSA still has a  way to go in promoting gender equity in this game title. 

Also, out of the twenty three athletes who have qualified, 19 of those 23 players are learners.

The continued upward mobility of learners in all of MSSA's events shows that there is a lot of promise in South African gaming. The development of school clubs is a cornerstone of the future success of South African gaming on an international level.

It is at such National Team Trials that the team to officially represent South Africa shall be selected.

The athletes that have qualified are:

Team Name	Club	Where qualified
Ayanda Magwaza *	Knights Mind Sports Club	Gauteng,
Doreen Els	Teutonic Knights Mind Sports Club	Gauteng,
Gregory Haripersad	Maritzburg College	KwaZulu Natal
Jade Appels	Curro Klerksdorp	North West
Jolene Bico	BNKR	S A Nationals
Joshua Williams	Northcliff High School	Online School Championships,
Kgosi Tshosa	Curro Klerksdorp	North West
Khahliso Malape	Fakkel School	S A Nationals
Khahliso Malepe	Fakkel School	Free State
Korben Roos	HTS – Witbank	S A Nationals
Kristian Volek	Northcliff High School	Online School Championships,
Langa Madonsela *	Knights Mind Sports Club	Gauteng,
Leonard Loftus	Masters of Mind Sports	KwaZulu Natal
Leone Loftus	Fakkel School	S A Nationals
Mark Morobane	Curro Klerksdorp	North West
Matthew Hoyle	Maritzburg College	KwaZulu Natal
Michael Masikeng	Fakkel School	Free State
Mikhyle Naidoo	Northcliff High School	Online School Championships,
Pheello Maphumane	Fakkel School	Free State
Richard Ferreira	Fakkel School	S A Nationals
Richard Ferrera	Fakkel School	Fezile Dabi
Robyn Gertzen	Teutonic Knights Mind Sports Club	Gauteng,
Xolisa Monakali	Knights Mind Sports Club	Gauteng,

Tuks hangs on!

Tuks University Mind Sports Club still hangs on to its position as the number one club in the DotA 2 game title.

However, it is quite encouraging to see the number of school teams that are challenging the older more established clubs.

Out of the  47 registered teams, 27 are school teams with half of the teams in the top ten being from school clubs.

Of course there is Maritzburg College just at the heels of Tuks, and, if they  had played in more senior events, they would no doubt be the top ranked team.

It is also quite encouraging to see Jeppe Boys make it to be ranked as the 11th best team in their first year of competition. Participation from schools like Jeppe will certainly help further develop eSports in South Africa.

It will indeed be interesting to see which club team is at the top of the ladder at the end of the year to take the honours for this competition at the end of the year.

According to  the rules for the Ladder, teams are listed in accordance of ranking and may be challenged by teams that are ranked within five places of themselves. New teams enter at the bottom of the table and have to work their way to the top.

The rankings are:

Pos	Name of Player	year	Club	Points
1	TMSC Sabotage	14	TMSC	313.2
2	Maritzburg College	16	Maritzburg College	280.9
3	TMSC|DropZone	15	TMSC	254.5
4	BeZerK	15	BzK	226.8
5	STALKERS	14	HTS	224.6
6	POPOS (Parklands College)	15	Parklands	191
7	TMSC 1st team	15	TMSC	187.5
8	Some Random Slackers	15	KMSC	186.4
9	TribalGaming	16	Fairmont	171.6
10	Fish Hoek High School	15	FHHS	170.7
11	WYSIWYG	16	JBHS	168.6
12	Parklands	16	Parklands	163.5
13	KWAKKIE DOTES	16	Tuks	163.5
14	We Took a Tower!	16	Wits	162.8
15	Broken alliance	16	Fairmont	154.9
16	Psyduck	15	SJC	151.3
17	Mr Project	16	Oakhill	146.8
18	Bright Sparks	14	HTS	146.3
19	MX (Parklands College)	15	PC	145.7
20	Tango	15	BNKR	140
21	BBC	15	TMSC	134
22	PBHS RED	15	PBHS	132.9
23	TMSC Rekt (Padrone)	14	TMSC	132.7
24	PBHS WHITE	15	PBHS	128.8
25	TMSC Sabotage (Ferand)	14	TMSC	125.4
26	Kronos Spectrum	15	Fairmont	125
27	DUC	15	KMSC	124.2
28	PIXELS	15	HTS	123.4
29	Makeshift	15	Fairmont	120.9
30	Rondebosch	15	RBHS	117.4
31	ITZ	15	BNKR	113.1
32	Rejects	14	HGH	112.9
33	OAK$	15	OHC	112.6
34	Kappa Knights	16	Fairmont	111.6
35	APTWE	16	Tuks	105
36	Team Delta	14	AS	105
37	MotD'	14	Woeries	103.5
38	Flaming Bunnies	16	Fairmont	95
39	PORAXYSM	16	All Stars	90
40	PR0NHS	16	NCLF	89.1
41	NWD (Coolbeesayscool)	14	PR0NHS	85
42	Grey Warders	14	HTS	80.3
43	SPS	15	HTS	80
44	Silent Tears	14	HTS	80
45	TMSC 2nd team	15	TMSC	75
46	PR0NHS TML	15	NCLF	71
47	Raven Gaming	15	Fairmont	69.9