South African Wargames Team Hit New Orleans

The Protea South African Wargames Team that competed in the International Wargames Federation's Individual Historical Figure Gaming World Championships that were held in New Orleans (USA) on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of March 2003 returned to South Africa today (12 March 2003).

The championship was hotly contested by all 124 contestants. 

The South African team was the result of the development policies which have been successfully implemented. As a result many of the older players had criticized the team as not having enough older and more experienced players.

Out of the four members of the senior team, only one player had been previously been 'capped' (Colin Webster), all of the other three players (Lloyd Clark, Richard Ligault, and Attilla Molnar) had never before represented South Africa in a Senior team.

In the junior team of two players, one player had been capped previously (Melissa Kupczyk) whereas Angelo Stathoussis was out to wet his spears for the first time. 

Nevertheless the team left in high hopes, and soon began to win many friends among the international gaming community.

Not only did the players represent the country with the highest degree of sportsmanship, but proved that they could hold their own with the best in the world.

At the end of the championships, Lloyd Clark (of Durban) had finished in tenth place (after having defeated Graham Briggs - world number three), while Richard Ligault (of Midrand) had forced his way into a very credible 18th place.

South Africa too maintained it dominance in the junior section. Ever since 1991, South Africans have won the junior championship. Angelo Stathoussis (of Cape Town) dominated the junior section from the beginning and finally triumphed. Melissa Kupczyk (of Roodepoort) gave a very credible performance in a male dominated event to finish in third place.

Regards

Colin Webster
President
South African Wargames Union
Tel: 011 828 4994
Fax: 011 622 6113
Cell: 082 378 9829

FIRST EVER MINER'S MORABARABA CHAMPIONSHIPS
16 MARCH 2003

Together the MINERS CREDIT GUARENTEE (MCG) and the South African Wargames Union formed a partnership to improve the delivery of the game of morabaraba to miners in South Africa.

It is well known that the game of Morabaraba is actively played on mines throughout South Africa, but until MCG became involved in the project, the South African Wargames Union lacked the necessary support structures to ensure an efficient delivery system.

Due to the urging of MCG, the championships have the same accreditation as any other provincial and national championship and thus allows players to earn provincial colours and of course, to qualify for national team trials in January 2004. The national team trials shall be used to select a team that shall participate in Rome in March 2004.

The first ever regional miner's championship was held after exhaustive qualifying rounds were played at various mines in the Rustenburg area. Only the best players then went through to participate in the regional finals.

Thus on a warm Sunday morning 80 of the best players in the Rustenburg area turned up to test their skills. Two times world morabaraba champion David Hlophe was on hand as senior umpire to ensure that the game was played to the highest standards.

Right from the start, Gibson Teemanae and Andre Macuacua set the pace. Fellow comrads, Daniel Ramoshaba, Joseph Lebogang, and Thomas Bulang were always just behind the leaders urging them forward, and demolishing any rivals that managed to come between them and the final prize.

When the dust cleared, and the final scores were in, Gibson emerged as the victor. However, the top six players qualify for the final national play-off, and the top 14 players qualify for National Team Trials in January 2003. 

The results are as follows:

The next regional championship shall be played 0n 30 March 2003 at Goldfields Mine, Carltonville, while the Free State Championship shall be played on 6 April 2003 at a venue to still be announced.

For any additional information please contact Colin Webster.

Regards

Colin Webster
President
South African Wargames Union
P O Box 19275
FISHER'S HILL
!408
Tel: 011 828 4994
Fax: 011 622 6113
Cell: 082 378 9829

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