Mind Sports South Africa has earned a reputation of being a federation totally committed to its members and athletes alike.
Through MSSA’s efforts eSports in South Africa has grown from being a mere activity to being a fully-fledged-accredited-sport for which players may earn Regional, Provincial, and/or Protea Colours.
Thus, MSSA has gone through the process of selecting a national team for the 8th World Championships.
The process includes holding Regional, Provincial, and National Championships which feed into the annual National Team Trials. It is from those that participate at the National Team Trials that the Protea Team is selected.
This year IeSF’s World Championships is being hosted in Indonesia, and it is off to Jakarta that our brave, but merry band will journey to once again do battle against the rest of the world.
The game titles in which the South African Protea eSports Team will compete are League of Legends®, CounterStrike: GO®, and HearthStone®.
MSSA is glad to have Francois Mouton represent South Africa for HearthStone®. Francois has proved himself at the 2015 S A National Championships, Gauteng Provincial Championships, and National Team Trials to be a very tough competitor . MSSA is confident that Francois will deliver solid results in Jakarta.
MSSA is particularly proud of its League of Legends (LoL) Team. The team is well known in South African competitive circles, and the members of the team have all been in the various winning teams that have won at the various Provincial and National Championships as held by MSSA. The team boasts of four members that were part of the team that went to Seoul in 2015.
The 2015 team did not only do well on the field of battle, but also won the hearts, minds and souls of all those present at the 2015 World championships.
While Taylor Rose was given the honour of being the South African ‘flag-bearer’, Maryke Kennard too found herself thrust into the lime-light.
Maryke was hand-picked to give the Athlete’s Oath at the 7th World Championships, and after the team did manage to win through to the group stages, went on to assist Reid ‘RAPiD’ Melton shoutcast.
The League of Legends team, this year, is captained by the Matthew Smith who gave a star performance in Seoul.
The CounterStrike: GO team consists of players who have all excelled in MSSA championships. MSSA is confident that the team will rise to the challenge and deliver solid results.
This is the first time that CounterStrike: GO has been included in the World Championships, and the young South African team will have its work cut out for it.
The CounterStrike: GO team, is captained by Jessie Joubert.
Manager, Ryan Boyes lead the team to a very credible finish into 13th place overall in 2015, and to 12th place overall in 2016. However, Ryan is not able to attend the 8th World Championships due to prior commitments.
Thus MSSA has passed the mantle of manager on to Jason Batzofinwho shall ‘wet his spears’ at the 8th World Championships.
The Protea eSports Team shall officially be awarded their colours at the official award ceremony that shall be done just prior to departure.
